2025 Humanitarian Award: Rachel Sossoman 

The Humanitarian Award recognizes those providing significant medical volunteer work that has had a positive impact on a national or international cause or event.  

Rachel Sossoman is the President and CEO of Mercy Urgent Care in Western North Carolina. When Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina and the Asheville area this fall and local hospitals had to close due to lack of access and utilities, Rachel and her team were determined to serve their community. Although many Mercy facilities had no running water, they made sure they were accessible for their communities and set up generators and portable bathrooms in parking lots. Many of their staff had their homes and cars impacted, but still came to serve. They remained the central access point of healthcare in their community while it still rebuilds in the aftermath. Sossoman’s leadership and her team’s resilience was critical to keeping their community’s access to care intact in the wake of Hurricane Helene.