Columbus doctor who treated generations, had hospital unit named after him dies at 82
A doctor who treated generations of Columbus area residents, helped establish two local organizations to improve healthcare and had a hospital unit named after him has died.
Dr. Walter Lloyd Hudson Jr. died at home Thursday, according to Striffler-Hamby Mortuary. He was 82.
According to his obituary, Hudson was a pediatrician in Columbus for 45 years. He helped establish the local Ronald McDonald House, which provides families a place to stay while their loved one is being treated at a hospital. He also helped establish Pediatrics After Hours, which closed in 2016.
Hudson served on the Columbus Regional Medical Foundation board and on the Children’s Hospital Strategic Planning Committee for Columbus Regional. In 2015, the hospital’s Pediatric Inpatient Unit at Midtown Midtown Center was named in his honor.
“We at Piedmont Columbus Regional are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Dr. Hudson, who made such a positive difference in the lives of so many children over the years in the Chattahoochee Valley,” Bill Tustin, chief operating officer of Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown, told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Monday. “He was a faithful servant who cared deeply about his patients and community. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with Dr. Hudson’s family as well as his former colleagues during this time.”
A celebration of his life will be conducted Tuesday at Parkhill Cemetery, starting at 11 a.m. In keeping with guidelines to lessen the spread of COVID-19, the graveside service will be private. It will be livestreamed for the public on Striffler-Hamby’s Facebook page.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
