From volunteer to director of clinical services, and most everything else in between and on the side, Pamela Witt has been a champion for the Western Tidewater Free Clinic.

We’re so pleased that she recently was recognized for her dedication by the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. Witt was honored with the Clinical Champion award on Oct. 21.

Witt started as a volunteer at the clinic in 2007, shortly after it began. Later, the position opened up, and she was the right person for the job. She had to leave the health department, but it’s a decision she doesn’t take lightly.

As director of clinical services, Witt has a vital role at the clinic. But that’s not all she does, according to Executive Director Chet Hart. She does whatever is needed, whether it’s plumbing and maintenance, writing grants or raising funds, helping with budgeting, coordinator volunteers, helping implement the electronic medical records program or even serving as the interim executive director during vacancies in that position.

Witt is so dedicated to her job because she is driven by a passion for public health and a love for mankind. Witt works closely with patients at the clinic to manage their own health care, treating them more as partners than as patients.

In his nomination letter, Hart said Witt’s presence alone makes Western Tidewater Free Clinic a better place. It seems the clinic has filled Witt with a since of joy, too. She told reporter Kellie Adamson recently, “It is a joy to have this job.”

Witt is the embodiment of what all health care should be about, and we couldn’t be happier with this recognition.