Only a few short years ago, it seemed Randolph County was on the cusp of losing its only remaining hospital.
Along with the insight and support of residents who voted to build a new hospital in Randolph County, health care survived in the county through the grit and dedication of the staff that kept Wedowee Hospital open while similar facilities throughout the Southeast continued to shut their doors.
Heather Stitcher, RN, was on the clinical team that walked the halls of the former hospital and often found themselves doing the best they could with what they had for the good of their community.
It was a calling about which she was initially uncertain. Now as the new administrator of
Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama, she’s grateful she stuck with it — and that Randolph County stuck with her and her team.
“When I went into nursing, I wasn’t 100% sure that’s what I wanted to do,” said Stitcher. Her hesitation led her to pursue certification as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) from Southern Union State Community College in Wadley.
In 1999, she went to work at the former Wedowee Hospital. But within months of working at the bedside, it was evident that she’d found her calling — and her profession had found a dedicated nurse.
“I realized I didn’t choose nursing; nursing chose me,” said Stitcher. “It was about more than a career. It became my passion.”
Stitcher continued to build her skills, earning an associate’s degree in nursing from Gadsden State Community College in Gadsden. Working at a small facility like Wedowee Hospital also helped her build her skills, exposing her to many areas of nursing.
By 2008, she was serving as the hospital’s inpatient nurse manager, finding joy in leading and lifting fellow nurses that led to another promotion to director of nursing.
“We had started to establish our relationship with Tanner at the time and adopting practices more in line with the way hospitals in the health system operated,” said Stitcher.
The desire to be a great nurse leader kept her chasing knowledge. While leading the hospital’s team of nurses, she began taking classes online from Grand Canyon University, achieving her bachelor’s degree in 2017. Then in 2020, she earned her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with a focus on nursing administration — an area she feels fate has led her to.
Earlier this year, she stepped into the role of administrator, succeeding Jerry Morris who now helms Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica in addition to Higgins General Hospital in Bremen, Georgia.
As a nurse — and a nurse leader — Stitcher thinks there’s a certain level of intimacy and passion she can bring to her new role.
“I think it makes a difference when you have someone as an administrator who’s been at the bedside,” she said. “I’ve been where a lot of our employees have been — taking care of patients. It gives me an inside view on what my team does, day in and day out. As a nurse, I know what that’s like.”
As administrator, Stitcher intends to keep shoulder-to-shoulder with her staff at Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama.
“Being seen — being involved — is important to the leaders, physicians and team members at Tanner,” said Stitcher. “We have to be present and listen to what they need from us to take the best care of our patients.”
The hospital’s clinical offerings continue to grow. This summer,
David Griffin, MD, a board-certified general surgeon from Carrollton Surgical Group will begin offering office hours in Wedowee and performing minimally invasive procedures in the surgical suite at Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama.
The hospital is also working to expand its comprehensive rehabilitation program, giving an option for continuing care for patients who don’t necessarily need the acute level of care from a hospital setting but who are not yet well enough to return home.
Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama has also expanded offerings like cardiology, sleep medicine and urology in recent years.
The expanding footprint of Tanner Medical Group in east Alabama is also helping provide primary care resources for patients. Tanner operates primary care clinics in Wedowee and Woodland, and recently completed an almost $1 million expansion and renovation at Tanner Primary Care of Roanoke.
“It’s great to see how health care in Randolph County continues to thrive, and it’s because our neighbors believe in us and value what we’re doing to take care of them,” Stitcher said.
Stitcher is a Randolph County woman, born and raised. Her parents still reside there, as does her brother and his family. Stitcher’s husband, Toby Stitcher, is from Randolph County and teaches vocational agriculture at Randolph County High School, from which he also graduated.
Stitcher and her husband live on his family land. Her oldest son, Will, graduated from Auburn University with a business degree, works in Oxford and lives in Wedowee with his wife and child, and her 19-year-old son, Payne, lives in Wedowee and attends Southern Union State Community College. The couple also have a 15-year-old daughter, Sara Kate, who is very enthusiastic about agriculture and enjoys showing pigs.
“I love working here,” she said. “I love working in Randolph County. Randolph County is my home. I want to give back and I feel like this is what I’m suited to do — what I’m called to do.”
More on Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama and Tanner Health System’s services in the region can be found at
tanner.org/EastAlabama.