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‘A powerhouse’ in Johns Creek First woman CEO at Emory retires, leaves behind transformed hospital By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — arilyn Margolis, who recently retired as CEO of Emory Johns Creek, recalled the steps she took to reshape a hospital where many in the community didn’t want to receive medical care. Margolis arrived in 2011 as the chief nursing officer and began making strides to improve the hospital’s reputation. She spoke with the Johns Creek mayor at the time and joined various boards within the city. Margolis also posted her phone number on Nextdoor, asking people to call her about the problems they were seeing so she could fix them. “I got a very good understanding early on, which was what was wrong, and … because I had a lot of experi-
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ence, I knew how to turn some of those things around,” Margolis said. “I knew how to make the wait time in the ER shorter, I knew how to make people feel like they were part of the family.” Before turning to Johns Creek, Margolis had been at Emory University Hospital since the early ’80s. She started as a bedside nurse, a role that patients interact with most, for 15 years. Along the way, she earned her master’s degree in nursing administration. Margolis spent much of her nursing career in Emory’s Cardiac Care Unit, with patients waiting for heart transplants. It was then that she took part in the inception of a patient-centered approach to health care.
See MARGOLIS, Page 26
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry presents Marilyn Margolis with a commendation Nov. 14 recognizing her work as CEO of Emory Johns Creek and throughout the community.
Post offices collect letters to Santa in 110-year-old program By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. — It’s the busiest time of the year for Alpharetta Postmaster Teara Smith and for the carriers she oversees across three locations.
While the numbers haven’t been finalized, Smith said postal workers are “really feeling it” this year with a significant increase in parcels to push for zip codes that cover Alpharetta, Johns Creek and Milton. Among Smith’s personal duties are collecting letters to Santa, written by
hopeful kids looking forward to filled requests. She recently had a stand-up talk with her employees to ensure all the letters have the names, addresses and stamps. For those letters that don’t have a stamp, Smith pulls from her personal stamp collection.
“Technically, we’re supposed to give it back,” she said. “But, it’s a child, and I’m a softy.” So far, Smith has sent more than 30 to Santa’s workshop. The program, Operation Santa, has been around for
See LETTERS, Page 10