Career award to honor pediatric cardiologist Dr. Blanton Bessinger – Moultrie Observer

MOULTRIE The Colquitt County Career Achievement Award will be presented Tuesday, May 9, to a respected physician who was born in South Carolina but grew up in Moultrie.

F. Blanton Bessinger, MD, MBA, will speak at that evenings ceremony at the Arts Center of Moultrie, as well as during an event at Colquitt County High School.

Dr. Blanton Bessinger.

The Colquitt County Career Achievement Award was designed to laud people who graduated from the Colquitt County School System and went on to earn recognition on the world stage.

Bessinger was born in Columbia, S.C., on Dec. 4, 1940. He moved with his parents, Forrest and Melba Bessinger, to Moultrie in 1947, and he entered the second grade at Central Elementary School. He attended Moultrie Junior High School and Moultrie Senior High School, graduating in 1958.

In high school, he was a member of the Beta Club (academic recognition) and the M Club (varsity letters in baseball and basketball). At graduation, he received the Edgar Holmes, MD, trophy for top all-around male student.

He went to Emory University for college, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. After three years of college, he entered the Emory School of Medicine, receiving his M.D. degree in 1965. He was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha in his junior year, and he graduated summa cum laude.

His next step was pediatrics internship and residency at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He then went on active duty in the USAF Medical Corps from 1967-69. He was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base and served as a pediatrician. Returning to the UM, he did a fellowship in pediatric cardiology, and, in 1971, began his academic career in the Pediatrics Department as an assistant professor. He was an active clinician, teacher, mentor to students and fellows, and a clinical researcher. He was the pediatric representative on several medical school committees, and was director of the cardiovascular curriculum for sophomore medical students.

In 1978, he moved from academia to private practice. In-hospital care was mainly at Minneapolis Childrens Medical Center. He was elected Chief of Staff at MCMC in 1982. He supported the pediatric residency training at the hospital with residents from the UM. With other professionals, he spearheaded quality efforts to improve care and improve the experience for families of hospitalized children.

In 1988 he reduced significantly his clinical practice, as he moved into medical management and became the Chief Medical Officer for St. Paul Childrens Hospital. While working full-time, he pursued and received his MBA degree from the Carlson School of Management at the UM in 1992.

Although both remained important, he became more involved in macro management of childrens health and development, different from the micro management of clinical care for a patient. He became deeply involved in child advocacy, joining various boards supporting children in the community. He was a founding member of Ready 4 K, and served as first chair for seven years. On the board were a former mayor and governor, business leaders, child care experts and others pushing a unified voice for the needs of this group in our society.

He was a ClearWay Minnesota director. This was an organization set up with funds from Minnesotas tobacco settlement. It was active in getting clean indoor air legislation, and it spent much effort to decrease and prevent use of tobacco products by teenagers.

Bessinger was an active member in the Minnesota Medical Association, serving as speaker of the House of Delegates in 1997 and

president in 1999. As a Minnesota delegate to the American Medical Association, he was elected to its Council on Constitution and Bylaws and served a total of eight years. He is a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Cardiology.

He has been a member of House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul for more than 50 years and was part of its governing boards for 30 years.

He has been a member of Midland Hills Country Club in St. Paul for 40 years, serving as president in 1999-2000.

He was a member of the Emory School of Medicine Alumni board for a period of years attending quarterly meetings in Atlanta.

Bessinger stated he feels privileged and grateful to have received recognition with the MMA Distinguished Service Award in 2007, the MnAAP Distinguished Service Award in 2010, and the Department of Pediatrics Gold Headed Cane Award in 2021 (a lifetime achievement award for his efforts in child advocacy).

At his retirement in 2003, the Childrens MN professional staff recognized him with the Blanton Bessinger Advocacy Award presented to a staff member annually. He has had the privilege of presenting it at the annual meeting.