Andrew Fox Williams, MD was recognized with the Dr. Gary Ogden Rural Health Practitioner of the Year for his contributions to the North Country community during the COVID-19 pandemic. His dedication in time and knowledge to this pandemic response demonstrates his sincere commitment to the core values of public health and quality care that Dr. Ogden exemplified.
When COVID-19 struck the North Country in March 2020, Dr. Williams helped lead the St. Lawrence County public health response. He directed the clinical response to COVID-19 at St. Lawrence Health System to keep our community safe and use the rapidly evolving guidelines and evidence to provide the support needed within our county to respond to this pandemic.
Dr. Williams worked day in and day out to ensure all stakeholders were included in key decisions, and to also ensure that there was a balanced approach to the pandemic. He has combed the literature to work with clinical teams and use evolving medical treatments for our COVID-19 patients. Dr. Williams also worked tirelessly to bring more COVID-19 tests to the county to help with our COVID19 response, get people back to work, and students back to school whenever safely possible. He worked with public and private schools to ensure that the health and safety of our teachers, students, and all support staff was at the forefront of all decisions regarding school closings and re-openings. He continues to work aggressively with the entire public health team to rapidly identify COVID-19 clusters and help prevent further spread in our towns.
Throughout all of this, Dr. Williams continues to see patients in the Community Health Center of the North Country, providing excellent medical care to some of our most vulnerable patients in the community.
Dr. Andrew Williams is a primary care physician, the medical director of the Community Health Center of the North Country, President of the St. Lawrence County Board of Health, and Associate Medical Director for Canton-Potsdam Hospital within the St. Lawrence Health System.
