Gail Gibson Recognized at Henning Award Ceremony

By Barbara Pepper, CPM
Member-at-Large, Conferences & Communications
bpepper@mississippi.org

Presentation of the annual Henning Award has been a long-standing tradition and the highlight of the evening for the Academy awards banquet held at the conclusion of its annual professional conference. This year’s recipient was Gail Gibson of New Orleans, Louisiana. However, Gail didn’t receive her award in the traditional fashion last September – she had to stay behind in Louisiana responding to Hurricane Gustav, only three years after Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Nonetheless, the conferees enthusiastically applauded Gail’s courage, commitment, and leadership. Many of her Academy family were moved to tears by the words in the speech Ed Burt delivered on behalf of Kay Nidiffer Rogers, 2008 Henning Committee Chair and 2007 Henning Award recipient.

Gail Gibson (center) with prior Henning winners Patterson, Schouest, Pepper, Dewitt, and Clark

Gail was honored in person at a ceremonial luncheon on February 5, 2009, hosted by the Interim Louisiana State University Public Hospital. The program, developed by the Louisiana Society in conjunction with the hospital, was led by members of hospital administration and the Society. Due to family commitments, Kay Nidiffer Rogers could not to make the trip to Louisiana that day. Since I live in a neighboring state, served on Kay’s Henning selection committee, am a previous Henning recipient, and currently sit on the Academy board, I was asked to preside over the AACPMs portion of the program. I readily agreed and was thrilled to accept this invitation. Friends, family, society members, and medical colleagues shared a special bond with Gail that day. All of Louisiana’s past Henning winners – Nancy Dewitt, 1989, the Academy’s first ever recipient; Bobby Ann Clark, 1991; Diana Schouest, 1999; and Tom Patterson, 2003 – were among those present to congratulate Gail. I read a proclamation prepared for the AACPM Board by Academy President Steve Mastro, and then delivered the same speech heard at the annual conference. The room was quiet and electric at first, but in the end, it was consumed by joyful applause, pride, and tears of recollection and relief. What an amazing day this was! How bittersweet for me, a Mississippian who saw and understood the devastation, pain, and grief Hurricane Katrina caused, to experience first-hand the magic of that day. Thank you, AACPM and Louisiana, for this privilege.

© Copyright 2009, American Association of Certified Public Managers®