Originally published on July 02, 2020.
SUU zoology graduate Andrew Hyatt, an emergency room physician at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, goes above and beyond the call of serving others, as he occupies an essential position in the Missouri Air National Guard, helping to keep our nation safe.
Col. Hyatt serves as state air surgeon in Jefferson City, handling duties as chief medical and public health emergency officer of the statewide unit, and charged with ensuring the state maintains a viable, healthy, and medically ready force for worldwide deployment and availability.
His training is extensive and varied, and includes study at the Air War College, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) School, and a number of Department of Defense schools.
While at SUU, the Parowan, Utah, product formed the middle link of a three-generation legacy family, and engaged in the University’s rigorous Pre-med program, where he found caring professors and an educational experience that he describes as second to none. He credits Dr. Jim Bowns for providing him with a teaching assistant position that was a “life-changing experience.”
He later earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, Kansas City, Missouri. His training included an internship and residency at hospitals under the auspices of Michigan State University in Detroit, Grand Blanc and Muskegon.
Besides his current emergency room responsibilities, Dr. Hyatt is the medical director of the Cape County Private Ambulance Service, and serves as Southeast Missouri State University teams’ emergency physician.
His Air Force career has been exceptional, earning him seven rows of decorations, including the Meritorious Service Medal. His service as a Squadron Medical Element (SME) flight surgeon took him on deployment to Balad Air Force Base, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, wherein he logged 97 combat flight hours.
He and his wife Clarice are parents to a son and daughter.
