May 8, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Alberta Cook of Sylacauga has been named the 2003 Alabama Public Health Hero by the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in recognition of her efforts to improve and protect the health of Alabamians. The award — a plaque and $1,000 — will be presented to Cook during the school’s honors convocation beginning at 2 p.m. Friday at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

“She has devoted her professional career and much of her personal life to addressing and improving the health and social concerns of others in her community and throughout Talladega County,” says Dr. Max Michael, dean of the School of Public Health at UAB. “She is a true public health servant and hero, and it is a privilege to recognize her with this honor.”

Cook was nominated for the award on the basis of her years of dedicated service as a community activist to establish programs aimed at improving access and quality of healthcare for residents of Talladega County. Now the parish nurse coordinator for the Sylacauga Alliance for Family Enhancement, Cook began her career as a registered nurse with Coosa Valley Baptist Medical Center, a post she held for 26 years.

In 1992 she began Health Ministry, a volunteer initiative that brings together nurses from area churches to offer community health programs, including an annual health fair for area residents. She also instituted the Avondale Mills Health Fair, which provides screenings and flu shots for approximately 550 employees, and she founded and directs the community’s Sickle Cell Support Group, an education and support resource for individuals with sickle cell and their families.

Cook is a graduate of the Sylacauga Hospital School of Nursing, where she received the Nightingale Award for Nursing. Among her numerous other honors, she is also recipient of the Bill Nichols Award for Nursing, presented in recognition of her selfless giving to help mankind through the practice of medicine.