Bluffton physician assistant named BMH ‘Provider of the Year’

By Barry Kaufman CONTRIBUTOR

When Beaufort Memorial launched its inaugural edition of the Bemmy Awards last year, it was to recognize those employees who truly go above and beyond. It was a chance to shine a spotlight on the hard-working folks who help carry out the organization’s mission, vision and values through their selflessness and relentless work ethic.

As this year’s Provider of the Year, Nikki Newman, PA-C, exemplifies all of those qualities.

“Nikki is one of the most humble, selfless, hardworking and dedicated providers I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” said Beaufort Memorial Practice Operations Administrator Angie Barber, who oversees several of the hospital’s practices, and nominated her for the award. “We are incredibly lucky to have her on our team!”

It was a long road – both literally and figuratively – that led to Newman accept- ing the award from hospital President and CEO Russell Baxley last month at a dinner celebration hosted by the hospital. It starts in Albany, Wisconsin, on a farm that her family has owned and worked for two generations.

“I was just a farm kid from the Midwest,” said the board-certified physician assistant who treats patients at Beaufort Memorial Express Care & Occupational Health in Bluffton and Okatie. “I was raised to marry a farmer, have kids and stay home.”

But leaving the farm for college opened up an entirely new world for her. It was one that would take her through what she calls “many trials and errors” as she explored her options.

Newman worked as both a vet assistant and a dental assistant before eventually completing her Bachelor’s Degree in biology at the University of Akron. In her final year of college, she was introduced to husband Paul by her brother, who was dating Paul’s sister at the time.

It turned out to be a successful match for both siblings. “We got married three months apart,” she said.

At that point, Newman decided to enter PA school at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. It was here, just minutes from the crystal-clear beaches of Fort Myers, that she discovered her love of the ocean.

“I always wanted to live close to the water,” she said. “There’s something about the water that soothes my soul.”

In search of the perfect place to settle down (near the water, of course), she and Paul discovered the South Carolina Lowcountry in 2014 and decided to make it their home. After working at another urgent care facility in the area, Newman joined the Beaufort Memorial Express Care team in 2021 – right in the middle of a global pandemic.

Simply making it through that gauntlet was challenge enough, but for Newman, it was also a year in which everything changed for her, as she and Paul also adopt-