TUPELO, Mississippi—The Mississippi Rural Health Association recently recognized outstanding individuals and hospitals during the group’s annual conference in Jackson.

The association presented its top leadership award, the Mary Ann Sones Distinguished Leadership Award, to Paula Turner of Saltillo, coordinator of rural health strategy for North Mississippi Health Services. Turner, a past president and board member of the association, was cited for leading substantial membership growth and offering legislative support and advice.

A 1972 graduate of Eupora High School, Turner enjoyed a career in education before transitioning into health care. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi University for Women and taught in Calhoun City. She went on to earn master’s degrees in counseling and higher education leadership from Mississippi University for Women while working in student affairs. She also worked as Dean of Students at Millsaps College in Jackson, Director of Student Life at Mississippi State University in Starkville and National Executive Director of Tri Delta sorority in Arlington, Texas.

In 1994, Turner joined the Physician Support team at North Mississippi Medical Center. She served seven years as a patient advocate for NMMC Home Health and 12 years as director of the Cancer Center. She completed a master’s degree in health care administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2005.

In 2013, Turner assumed her current role, working with the 13 rural health clinics affiliated with the health system’s community hospitals. Several of those hospitals received Hospital Quality Awards from the association. Each year, the Chartis Group recognizes the top quartile of hospitals in the nation based on quality outcomes from CMS data. Award winners were NMMC-Eupora, NMMC-Iuka, NMMC-Pontotoc and NMMC-West Point.

For more information about the Mississippi Rural Health Association, call (601) 898-3001 or email ryan.kelly@mississippirural.org.