Don Hutson is coming back home - or at least, just a few hours down the road.

The Corinth native and veteran health-care administrator has been named chief executive officer of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Grenada and the University of Mississippi Medical Center Holmes County in Lexington.

“We are thrilled Don is joining the UMMC family,” said Dr. Charles O'Mara, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs. “Don is an experienced hospital administrator with deep roots in northern Mississippi.  He will be an outstanding addition to the team, and will have a big impact on the organization and the Grenada and Holmes County communities.”

Hutson, currently Medical Center director of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Marion, Ill., is replacing CEO David Putt, who will retire in June. Hutson will oversee operations at UMMC Holmes County, licensed for 25 beds, and UMMC Grenada, licensed for 156 beds. 

“We are deeply grateful to David Putt for doing a superb job establishing the UMMC brand in Grenada, providing strong leadership in Lexington, and his 20-plus years of service in the system,” including as  CEO of University Hospitals, said Kevin Cook, CEO of University Hospitals and Health System.

Searching for a meaningful relationship at the Medical Center, first-year medical student Sorsha Morris finally met her match: sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation in laboratory rats, that is.

This summer, Morris will embark on that particular area of research in a lab partnership arranged by a brand-new matchmaking service within the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior: the Office of Medical Student and Resident Research. 

The office caters to trainees much like an eHarmony for scientific investigations of the brain.

“When you're a first-year student trying to settle into school, having one place to go to for information about research, having that point of contact, is really helpful,” Morris said.

That point of contact is the director of the new office, Dr. Kevin Freeman, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, who pairs students with research mentors within the department, based on mutual, scientifically-related attractions.

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff:

An assistant professor of plastic surgery has been appointed to an international cleft palate-craniofacial organization.