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TO CONGRATULATE ROLAND J. GARDNER OF BEAUFORT UPON THE OCCASION OF HIS RETIREMENT AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR BEAUFORT-JASPER-HAMPTON COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH SERVICES, INC., TO COMMEND HIM FOR HIS MORE THAN FORTY-ONE YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE, AND TO WISH HIM MUCH CONTINUED SUCCESS AND FULFILLMENT IN THE YEARS AHEAD.
Whereas, for over forty-one years, Roland J. Gardner has served as CEO for Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., which provides accessible quality health services to more than seventeen thousand patients in three rural counties; and
Whereas, following graduation from St. Helena High, Roland went on to Beaufort's Mather Junior College. He received his bachelor's degree, cum laude, from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and then earned a master's degree at Howard University. He undertook additional studies in administration and management at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, the University of Alabama, and Harvard University; and
Whereas, the excellence of his leadership has been recognized nationally and locally. He has served as board chair and president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, which serves over twenty-eight million patients at twelve hundred sites throughout the country. He currently serves as secretary of Community Health Centers/Community Health Advocates, a nationally endorsed business development entity; and
Whereas, Mr. Gardner has a distinguished history of volunteerism with national and local service organizations, including service as honorary chairman for the March of Dimes. He has served on numerous task forces and committees, giving generously of his time and talents to improve the quality of community life; and
Whereas, in 1990, then U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Louis Sullivan appointed Mr. Gardner to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services. In 2011, then U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius appointed Mr. Gardner to a four-year term on this same committee; and
Whereas, for his committed service, he received the XI Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity's Distinguished Service Award in 2013. His many awards and appointments also include the Margaret J. Weston Award and the Visionary Award, presented by the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association for extraordinary leadership, commitment, and dedication to the vision and mission of community health centers. In addition, he has received the Penn Center 1862 Circle Induction for his outstanding contributions in preserving the rich legacy and history of the Gullah/Geechee culture and his efforts to protect and preserve this culture as a national treasure. Mr. Gardner is also the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Foundation for Leadership Education; and
Whereas, on the occasion of his retirement, Roland Gardner's colleagues will gather to honor him at a celebratory reception and dinner to be held September 17, 2022; and
Whereas, grateful for the passion and commitment Mr. Gardner has shown in serving the people of South Carolina, the House extends to him warm best wishes for a contented retirement. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate Roland J. Gardner of Beaufort upon the occasion of his retirement as chief executive officer for Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., commend him for his more than forty-one years of dedicated service, and wish him much continued success and fulfillment in the years ahead.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Roland J. Gardner.
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