Licking Memorial Health Systems (LMHS) is pleased to announce that Christopher (Chris) Meyer is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.  The annual award recognizes individuals for contributions that reflect LMHS’ mission to improve the health of the community.

A lifelong resident of Central Ohio, Chris graduated from The Ohio State University (OSU) summa cum laude, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.  He earned his law degree at The Moritz College of Law at OSU.  Chris is a partner in Reese Pyle Meyer PLL, a 13-attorney general practice law firm in Newark, founded by J. Gilbert Reese, where he has practiced law his entire career.  He was admitted to practice in Ohio in 1977 and he also is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Chris has been active for many years at the state and local level in bar-related activities, serving two terms in the past as the President of the Licking County Bar Association (2012, 2013) and as a member of the Litigation Section of the Ohio State Bar Association, as well as, the Negligence Law Committee and Civil Justice Subcommittee, the Special Ad Hoc Committee on Product Liability, and the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee.  He also has served as a mentoring attorney in the Ohio Supreme Court’s Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentorship Program.  Chris is a member of the American Bar Association and for many years, the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, the Society of Ohio Hospital Attorneys, the American Health Lawyers Association and the National Association of College and University Attorneys.  He holds the current appointment from the Ohio Attorney General as Outside Counsel for Central Ohio Technical College.  He is a volunteer attorney in the local Interfaith Pro Bono Legal Clinic and has served as a volunteer judge at the local and state level in the Ohio High School Mock Trial & Moot Court Program of the Ohio Center for Law-related Education.

Chris has a long history of involvement in civic and volunteer activities in the Licking County community, including past involvement with the Newark Area Jaycees, the United Way of Licking County (Planning and Allocations Divisions), the Advisory Board to the Licking County Department of Human Services, the Senior Citizen’s Levy Advisory Review Board and the Board of Directors of Weathervane Playhouse.  He is a member of the Newark Rotary Club and the Licking County Chamber of Commerce and is a current member of the Board of Directors of the Newark Granville Symphony Orchestra, the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University at Newark, and the Board of Directors of First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Newark.  

His loving wife, Sharman, passed away on January 3, 2018.  They enjoyed a close marriage of more than 44 years and have three adult children and six grandchildren, ages one to six years old. 

The Building a Healthier Community Award was renamed this year as The Mary Jane McDonald Building a Healthier Community Award.  Mary Jane was a member of the Licking Memorial Hospital Board of Directors from 1981 to 1987, and a member of the Licking Memorial Health Systems Board of Directors from 1988 to 1999.  She was elected as the first female chair of the LMHS Board in 1991 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.  Mary Jane dedicated her time and talents to enriching the lives of countless Licking County residents through her charitable and selfless acts of volunteerism.  

The 14th annual Mary Jane McDonald Building a Healthier Community Award was presented to Fostering Further in recognition of their work with the community to support foster care in Central Ohio.  The Licking Memorial Hospital Development Council created this award in 2005 to honor an individual, group or organization in Licking County with an ongoing work or project that reflects LMHS’ mission to improve the health of the community.

Since 2013, Fostering Further has emotionally and financially supported foster children in Licking County, their substitute care providers and social workers helping foster families overcome a variety of issues.  The group’s primary mission is to ensure that the community’s most vulnerable individuals – victims of child abuse and neglect – have not been forgotten and that those caring for the children are supported.  Fostering Further has successfully carried out this mission by hosting special social events for foster families, providing personal care items and household goods to teens moving into their first apartment, preparing specialized infant care kits for babies born dependent on illegal substances, setting up dorm rooms for college-bound foster youth, and purchasing backpacks and school supplies for foster children living with extended family members.  In addition, Fostering Further has granted individual wishes for children in foster care.  These grants have included financial support for dance and music lessons, camps, educational field trips, and sporting equipment and fees.

Fostering Further understands the importance of typical childhood experiences for foster children in promoting future success as they grow, and provides opportunities for Licking County foster children to participate in positive and nurturing activities that encourage healthy social and emotional development.  

The 2018 Lifetime Achievement Reception was held on Friday, November 2.  Family, friends, and colleagues gathered at the John Gilbert Reese Center in Newark to celebrate the award winners and express gratitude for their work to improve the health of the Licking County community. The Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 1989 and is the highest award that LMHS confers each year.