Atrium Health Floyd President Receives Regents Hall of Fame Alumni and Distinguished Friends Award
ROME, Ga., Sept. 15, 2025 – Atrium Health Floyd President Kurt Stuenkel has received the University System of Georgia Regents Hall of Fame Alumni and Distinguished Friends Award in recognition of his support of Georgia Highlands College.
A strong advocate for education and workforce development, Stuenkel has played a pivotal role in forging Atrium Health Floyd's partnership with GHC, working to combat the critical nursing shortage in the region by creating new opportunities for students to pursue nursing and other health science careers. He was nominated for the award by GHC.
Atrium Health Floyd and Georgia Highlands College have more than a 50-year history of collaboration with Atrium Health Floyd providing clinical training programming, scholarships and career pathways at the college for generations.
“The recognition from the university system acknowledges the long relationship we have had with the college and importantly, it recognizes the creativity and impact of our new agreement," Stuenkel said.
“We have enhanced faculty recruitment and retention, increased the number of students in the program, and created more scholarship opportunities," he added. “Our partnership with Georgia Highlands College is transformational for the nursing program and for our community. It increases the number of nurses who will ultimately give back to our community in providing patient care to area residents."
In 2023, Atrium Health Floyd entered into an agreement with GHC to increase the number of health sciences student positions at the college and to grow the number of nurses entering the workforce in the region.
As part of the agreement, the health sciences and nursing programs at Georgia Highlands College were renamed the Atrium Health Floyd School of Health Sciences and the Atrium Health Floyd Department of Nursing.
Atrium Health Floyd also has helped increase the number of nursing school students and supplemented the salaries of educators at the college.
“The partnership between Atrium Health Floyd and Georgia Highlands College exemplifies how higher education and health care can work hand-in-hand to transform a region," said Mike Hobbs, GHC president.
“Together, we are not only training the next generation of health care professionals, we are building a sustainable pipeline of talent drawn directly from our local communities," Hobbs added. “With Atrium Health Floyd's support, our graduates are beginning their careers here at home, strengthening families, bolstering our workforce, and ensuring that northwest Georgia has one of the strongest health care systems in the state."
The award was presented during the USG Foundation's 21st annual Regents' Scholarship Gala, which raised more than $4.5 million to expand need-based scholarships for USG students across the state.
“Having Kurt as a friend of Georgia Highlands College is a gift to our students and our region," said Lisa Jellum, assistant vice provost of Academic Partnerships and Innovation at GHC. “He leads with vision, keeps patients at the center, and champions the next generation of caregivers."
Jellum says the college's partnership with Atrium Health Floyd is transforming lives through scholarships, high-impact clinical training, and expanded program capacity that keeps more graduates here in northwest Georgia to provide care for the community.
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd strategically combined with Harbin Clinic in 2024 and employs more than 5,200 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at four facilities: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 361-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; and Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, also in Rome. Together, Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic provide primary care, specialty care and urgent care throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.