Dr. Ben Carson, Sr., a retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021, toured the facilities at Highland Community Hospital on Tuesday afternoon while giving words of encouragement to staff and providers. Dr. Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations.

Carson’s achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures.

Bryan Maxie, Regional Administrator for Forrest Health met with Dr. Carson and Dr. Tony Lambert, Senior Pastor with Picayune’s First Baptist Church for the visit. “We want to thank Dr. Lambert and the church for supporting us through these challenging times as well as making it possible for Dr. Carson to visit with us and share some encouraging words. Our efforts are a part of the compelling vision of the church to encourage influencers with the Gospel,” said Maxie.

Recently Highland held a 15-day drive thru Community COVID Care program that allowed local residents to be tested, vaccinated, and if they tested positive, treated with Monoclonal Antibody Infusions.

During the duration of the program the dedicated staff at Highland tested 5,125 residents utilizing a Rapid Covid Test. Of those, 1302 or 25% were positive. 781 Vaccines were given and 914 Monoclonal Antibody Infusion treatments were administered. According to Dr. Thomas Dobbs, III, Mississippi’s State Health Officer, “those 914 Monoclonal Antibody treatments probably prevented 55 hospitalizations and likely saved 11 lives.”

Dr. Carson called the program, “a model for Public Health best practices going forward.”

“We’re very grateful to be able to have Dr. Carson visit our facility and speak with our staff and providers. This is a tremendous honor for not only our facility but all of Forrest Health. We can’t thank Dr. Lambert and Picayune’s First Baptist Church enough for providing us with this awesome opportunity today. We would also like to thank our entire community for entrusting us with their care and helping make their community hospital a success,” said Maxie.