Vidant Beaufort Hospital is proud to announce Camille Jones as the recipient of the second-annual Susan Gerard Excellence in Leadership award. This award was established to honor and remember Susan Gerard for the many contributions that she made to our local health care system and to annually recognize a manager that exemplifies the many noble and professional character traits of our long-time and truly missed leader.

Susan Gerard was a valuable and instrumental leader of Vidant Beaufort Hospital from 1998 until her retirement in 2016. Susan served the health care needs of the community throughout her career and always led with strength, resolve, dedication and grace.

Jones is the manager of the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center and Vidant Rheumatology and has served at Vidant Beaufort Hospital for 15 years. She began her career in 2000 and has worked primarily in management of local physician practices, with a two-year stint in Vidant Beaufort Hospital’s performance-improvement department. Camille credits Gerard for providing guidance and support early in her career, which gave her the foundation to help her develop into the manager she is today. The award criteria is representative of the life that Susan led, both personally and professionally. Jones embodies all of these traits each day that she comes to work. Camille was nominated by her peers based on these traits:

• Fully engaged in the organization
• Has a love for community
• Shows strength and resolve during difficult times
• Is a champion for local health care
• Lives with a never give up attitude
• Consistently strives for excellence
• Leads by example
• Embodies Vidant’s ICEAST values of Integrity, Compassion, Education, Accountability, Safety and Teamwork

Jones is described as having a love for the community, strength and resilience to resolve difficult situations, a positive and upbeat personality, and an ability to consistently strive for excellence. She embodies Vidant’s mission, vision and values.

A fellow colleague’s comments read, “Camille has never met a problem that she cannot solve; she is always willing to jump in and help and is an excellent motivator. She strives for excellence in everything that she does. Camille has been a great mentor and has really helped us reach our goals here at the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center. Camille is deeply committed to cancer care and has helped us become closer at obtaining our goal of being an Accredited Cancer Program.”