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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Sandral Hullet, M.D.

Picture of Sandral Hullet

Sandral Hullet, M.D.

“I enjoy helping and making a difference in people's lives, if I can.”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Artur Davis

VIEW LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

In PDF format

“A CARING, DEDICATED COUNTRY DOCTOR”

BIOGRAPHY

Whether as a young National Health Service Corps physician treating an under–nourished baby in the tiny, impoverished rural town of Eutaw or now, coordinating regional health policies as Chief Executive Officer—Medical Director of Cooper Green Hospital in Birmingham, Sandral Hullett has dedicated her career to improving the lives and well–being of the poor of her native Alabama.

“Although I'm getting used to not seeing patients anymore, what I am doing is making a difference in other people's lives, allowing them to get the services they need,” Hullett remarks. “She has shown exemplary community involvement by helping the underserved and underinsured,” says Representative Artur Davis [D–AL–7], who nominated her to be a Local Legend.

Hullett earned her undergraduate degree in biology at Alabama A&M University, her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and her Master's in Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

After completing her residency in Family Practice and fulfilling a National Health Services Corps obligation, she pursued her interest in rural health care, including health care planning and delivery to the under–insured, and poor. She has extensive experience in research, clinical trials, community outreach and teaching direct care delivery. She serves as project director and principal investigator for several grants funded by the National Cancer Institute; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Kellogg Foundation; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the Ford Foundation.

Hullett is the co–author of numerous articles on health care issues faced by rural primary care communities. For her efforts in rural health, she was honored with the National Rural Health Association's "Rural Practitioner of the Year" award in 1988, the National Association of Community Health Centers' "Clinical Recognition Award for Education and Training" in 1993, Leadership Alabama's "Distinguished Leadership Award" in 1996, and the National Black Churches Family Council's "Rural Leadership Image Award" in 1998.

She served with great distinction for 19 years on the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama. Her contributions to higher education were recognized in 2001 when she received the national Distinguished Service Award in Trusteeship, the nation's top honor bestowed on a lay board member of a public university. Active in many local, state, and national organizations, she serves as a member of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council for the US Department of Health and Human Services; the Institute of Medicine; the National Academy of Sciences; Intercultural Cancer Council; the Steering Committee for the Alabama Partnership for Cancer Control in Underserved Populations; the Advisory Committee for the Minority Medical Education Program; the Institute of Medicine Committee on Environmental Justice; and the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Changing Market, Managed Care, and the Future Viability of Safety Net Providers.

Hullett has devoted her career to improving rural health care and helping restructure the provision of health care statewide. As a result, countless Alabamians who otherwise would have suffered neglect have access to health care.

MILESTONES

1976

Becomes health services director of West Alabama Health Services, Eutaw, Alabama, meeting the medical needs of the area's 2000 poor and under–served residents.

2001

Appointed Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of Cooper Green Hospital, in Birmingham, Alabama.

BORN

1946

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Medical College of Pennsylvania

SPECIALTY

Family Medicine


Sub Specialty

Public Health

LOCATION

Alabama