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Honoring a Lifetime Career of Service & Contribution

Since 2000, Health Volunteers Overseas has had the honor of counting Julia Plotnick, RN, MPH, FAAN, RADM, USPHS (ret) as one of its members. For nearly two decades, she has been a dedicated volunteer, member, leader and supporter. She has volunteered at project sites; served as a project director, steering committee member and HVO Board member; and made significant contributions to the sustainability and effectiveness of the organization.

Julia PlotnickBut Ms. Plotnick’s dedication to the HVO mission to improve global health through education is just one chapter of a career of service and a lifetime of contribution to the global health community.

A highly decorated nurse with an international reputation, Ms. Plotnick’s career has spanned more than four decades, nineteen countries, and five continents. She has taken part in some monumental assignments: rebuilding Rwanda’s public health system in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide; improving health services for mothers and children on 26 separate visits to post-Ceausescu Romania; and training public health nurses in Kobe, Japan following the devastating 1995 earthquake.

With a BSN from Catholic University and a MPH from the University of Pittsburgh, Ms. Plotnick joined the Public Health Service in 1959. In that service, as a community health and maternal/child specialist, she held various national positions and accepted special international assignments with the World Health Organization.  In the US, Ms. Plotnick has held positions in the highest echelon of government service and has won numerous awards for her work to promote the nursing profession. In 1992, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service selected Rear Admiral Plotnick as the Chief Nurse Officer and Assistant Surgeon General. As Chief Nurse Officer, she was the principal advisor to the government on nursing affairs. She provided leadership to more than 5,000 civil service and Commissioned Corps Nurses. She also coordinated and directed national policy for nursing activities with the Surgeon General of the United States.

DSC_0109Throughout her career, Ms. Plotnick has demonstrated a commitment to global nursing care. She has received numerous awards and citations for her work, including the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award and the Surgeon General’s Medallion. The Public Health Service Commissioned Corps awarded Ms. Plotnick the Distinguished Service Medal, their highest honor.

On August 25, 2016, Ms. Plotnick will celebrate her 80th birthday. To honor her dedicated service and commitment to global nursing, HVO is pleased to announce the establishment of the Plotnick Nursing Education Volunteer Fund, and we invite you to join us in honoring Ms. Plotnick’s lifetime of service with a contribution. The fund will support HVO’s nursing education projects and volunteers who seek to improve the quality and availability of nursing care around the world.

Please join us in wishing Ms. Plotnick well on her birthday and take this opportunity to honor her achievements in the best way possible – by providing opportunities for other nurses to follow in her footsteps.