West Georgia Worx’s Candace Wortham, DNP, APRN, recently qualified as a certified medical examiner under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners as part of West Georgia Health’s occupational medicine program.

The National Registry is a federal program that establishes requirements for health care professionals who perform physical examinations for truck and bus drivers. Wortham successfully completed training and testing on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) physical qualifications standards and guidelines.

As a certified medical examiner, Wortham will make decisions aimed at reducing the risk for crashes, injuries and fatalities among interstate commercial motor vehicle drivers. She also will be listed on the U.S. Department of Transportation national registry, an online directory of certified medical examiners easily accessible to drivers, motor carriers and the general public. The directory website can be found at national registry.fmcsa.dot.gov.

This certification will add value to West Georgia Worx’s current customer base as well as any commercial vehicle driver needing medical clearance updated. FMCSA requires medical examinations be conducted by certified examiners at least every two years for all commercial drivers.

Wortham joins director Nick Vlachos, MD, and Garnett Giesler, MD, FCCP, as certified examiners for West Georgia Worx.

A long-time resident of Troup County, Wortham completed the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Troy University in 2005 and returned to Troy in 2011 to earn her clinical doctoral degree in nursing.

She is board-certified as a nurse practitioner through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as well as the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In addition to West Georgia Worx, she also serves patients at the West Georgia Physicians West Point Clinic.

Anyone seeking additional information may contact program director Robert Carlson at 706-845-3075 or carlsonr@wghealth.org or visit www.wghealth.org/our-services/occupational-medicine.