School of Medicine’s Ken Walker Receives Prestigious USAID Citation for First Pediatric ER in Nation of Georgia
In April, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) honored Professor of Medicine H. Kenneth Walker with its Outstanding Citizen Achievement Citation. Walker was recognized for his role in a groundbreaking partnership that has brought the first modern pediatric emergency room (ER) to the nation of Georgia or to any post-Soviet country. Recipients of this prestigious honor are chosen for their contribution to the realization of USAID's mission to provide economic development and humanitarian assistance around the world. Only eight other individuals working in the Europe and Eurasia region have received this citation since its inception.		(left to right) Drew W. Luten III, USAID's acting assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia presents Professor of Medicine Ken Walker with the Outstanding Citizen Achievement Citation.

Walker was honored along with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Sasania, the chief administrator of M. Iashvili Central Children’s Hospital in Tbilisi, Georgia, where the pediatric ER was established in 2004. Through their joint vision and commitment to improving health care for the Georgian people, Walker and Sasania mobilized the volunteer efforts of medical professionals from their respective institutions and communities, including several Emory School of Medicine faculty from pediatrics, emergency medicine, and surgery who traveled to Tbilisi to help develop the ER.

The citation was presented to Walker at a dinner hosted by USAID on April 19, at the Emory Conference Center, co-sponsored by the Office of International Affairs and The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning. Sasania was honored separately at a June 2006 ceremony in Tbilisi.

Walker has been dedicated to establishing State of Georgia-nation of Georgia medical partnership projects for over a decade through the Atlanta-Tbilisi Healthcare Partnership, which has built sustainable medical and research networks involving the exchange of over 300 faculty and students. In addition, he has cultivated alliances with high-level officials at home and abroad to support these collaborations. In tribute to his enduring commitment and tireless efforts, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared Walker an Honorary Citizen of Georgia in 2004.

Saakashvili noted in a speech at the opening of the ER unit that “this unit will meet one of our most urgent needs.” In a country where many citizens, including children, cannot receive specialized care because they do not have the means to pay for medical services, the ER fulfills an especially critical need. The President added that “this unit will help provide highly qualified critical care to all children without exception.”

"This extraordinary collaboration has markedly improved health outcomes for Georgian children who require specialized emergency care," said Drew W. Luten III, USAID acting assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia. "Partnerships such as these are fundamental to lasting, sustainable progress across the globe."

More than 340 guests attended the Atlanta ceremony, which featured remarks from Luten, Dr. Sasania, Ambassador of the Republic of Georgia Vasil Sikharulidze, Emory President James Wagner, and James P. Smith, Executive Director of the American International Health Alliance, a non-governmental organization which has provided fundamental support to the partnership.

“Hand in Hand,” a USAID-sponsored, short documentary on the work of Drs. Walker and Sasania – narrated by veteran broadcast journalist Forrest Sawyer – premiered at the event.

“This collaboration has created an innovative model for international engagement,” said Emory Vice Provost for International Affairs Holli Semetko. “It is also a testament to Emory’s growing ties to the nation of Georgia, thanks in large part to Dr. Walker’s work.”