Dr. Chris Parsons Named a Healthcare Hero by North Carolina Healthcare Association

            Pardee UNC Health Care is pleased to announce that Chris Parsons, M.D., medical director for Pardee’s Center for Infectious Diseases, has been named a Healthcare Hero by The North Carolina Healthcare Association (NCHA). According to NCHA, the Healthcare Hero designation is meant to “show special appreciation for exceptional efforts on behalf of our frontline workers to help coworkers, patients, or in the community.”

            “Dr. Parsons has worked nonstop to lead Pardee’s COVID response for our community, and he is incredibly deserving of this recognition,” said David Ellis, M.D., chief medical officer for Pardee UNC Health Care. Parsons received his award at the May 26 Board of Directors meeting for Pardee UNC Health Care.

            “Throughout the course of the pandemic, he has helped create prevention and treatment plans, partnered with UNC Health to bring leading-edge treatments for COVID to Henderson County, created guidance and policy to keep frontline workers safe, and helped create and lead a drive-thru testing site for the community,” said Dr. Ellis. “These efforts were in addition to remaining on-call for patient care and spending countless hours educating our staff and community about the COVID vaccines’ safety and efficacy.

            Dr. Parsons is board-certified in infectious disease and internal medicine, and specializes in treating general infectious diseases, bone and joint infections, oncologic infections, hepatitis C and HIV. He earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He then completed an internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by a fellowship in infectious disease and international health at the University of Virginia. Dr. Parsons has been named to the highly regarded Best Doctors in America® List three times and was named the Pardee UNC Health Care Physician of the Year in 2020.

            Pardee UNC Health Care is a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1953 and is managed by UNC Health Care. The hospital is licensed for 222 acute care beds. Pardee has several locations separate from the main campus, including a comprehensive physician practice network, a cancer center, four urgent care locations and six orthopedic clinics. For more information or to find a physician, visit  www.pardeehospital.org.