This past week, the University community lost USA President Emeritus Gordon Moulton. During his tenure as president, he played many roles - a leader, a visionary, and a patient in our health system.“The overall legacy that he left for me both personally and for the health side of the university is his unyielding commitment to excellence and quality,” said Dr. Ronald Franks, vice president for health sciences at the University of South Alabama. “He insisted that he himself live up to that standard, which inspired all of us who worked with him to do the same.”
Noted for trying new things and improving both the University and the Mobile community, President Moulton went out of his way to engage the community in the university’s growth and to give them opportunity for ownership.
“Gordon’s engaging with the community was fundamental to how he worked,” said Stan Hammack, vice president for health systems at USA. “Almost everything he had a hand in building had that constant eye of ‘what will it do for the community and the region.’ He wanted everything to be thought of as adding to the city’s string of pearls.”
Hammack said President Moulton not only made sure service demands were met, but he was also creative in how the services were brought to the community. “He was supportive of an improved entry to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital,” Hammack said. “But he also understood the importance of visual elements like the sculpture park and what that would bring to patients and visitors. This creativity ultimately resulted in the Children’s Park, named in honor of his wife Geri, who led the effort to create a special park to enhance USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital.”
“Gordon made a connection to the people,” Hammack added. “That’s his mark.”
Driven in part by their own personal experiences, Mayer Mitchell and President Moulton recognized the need to expand on the already established commitment to cancer prevention and treatment in the health system. “That vision led to the development of the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center aimed at conducting research and providing clinical care, bringing the latest discoveries and approaches to the people of the Northern Gulf Coast and surrounding region,” Dr. Franks said.
President Moulton had faith in USA’s Health Care System and its providers. “He had utmost confidence in the care provided by the USA Health System,” said Dr. Franks. “He chose to come here for the treatment and follow-up of his life-threatening illness. He believed in us, recognizing that we shared his same unyielding commitment to excellence and quality.”
