ASHS's All-Star Summer

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As a reader of these monthly updates, you know I enjoy borrowing a few sports analogies. With Major League Baseball’s All-Star festivities just around the corner, the comparison seemed especially fitting.

The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is having an All-Star summer of its own. We’re proud to welcome five remarkable new members to the ASHS Foundation Board of Directors, each bringing exceptional leadership, expertise and a shared commitment to building Alabama’s future healthcare workforce. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to meet them in this newsletter.

The excitement doesn’t stop there. ASHS continues to hit milestone after milestone as we prepare to welcome our inaugural class on Aug. 13. Enrollment is complete and a testament to successful, multi-pronged outreach that has attracted students from throughout Alabama. A bursting-at-the-seams orientation has confirmed the extraordinary enthusiasm of our students and families, and construction of our permanent Demopolis campus reached another historic milestone with a recent topping-out ceremony. The photo at the top of today's newsletter captures the students who attended orientation.

Every one of these accomplishments reflects the vision and generosity of people like you. Thank you for helping make this dream a reality. As you read this month’s newsletter, I hope you’ll share our excitement — and that you will continue to support our efforts to help ensure that ASHS will change lives for generations to come.

Warm regards,

J. Scott Huffman, CFRE

President and CEO

Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences Foundation

ASHS Leadership Update:

Laura Bailey named Head of School

The statewide Board of Trustees of ASHS has appointed Laura Bailey as Head of School for the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences, recognizing the transformative leadership she has already provided in preparing ASHS for its inaugural year.

Since joining ASHS in 2025, Bailey has led development of the school’s groundbreaking curriculum, which teaches core academic subjects through a healthcare lens while creating innovative career pathways and partnerships with healthcare providers and colleges across Alabama. As Head of School, she is charged with overseeing the academic vision, residential life, and heightened recruitment as the school expands into its custom-designed and -built 10-acre campus in Demopolis in the 2027-28 school year. 

Read more about her appointment and the school's orientation in the Alabama Reporter.

Pictured above, Laura Bailey, right, and Kelly Brasher, ASHS chief school financial officer, make their mark literally on the school, at the recent “Topping Out” ceremony in Demopolis to celebrate a construction milestone on the permanent campus.

Sinking Roots in Demopolis: Orientation and Topping Out

Two milestone events recently have underscored a remarkable reality: The Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is taking root in Demopolis. During Orientation on June 10, inaugural students and their families from 46 cities across 27 counties in the state gathered with classmates, faculty and staff. They explored campus life, and shared in the excitement of preparing for opening day on Aug. 13 with such basics as having their student I.D. photos taken and picking up their summer reading books.



On July 2, Brasfield & Gorrie welcomed community leaders, Foundation and school representatives, architects, engineers and construction partners to the topping-out ceremony for the permanent campus. Before the final steel beam was raised into place on the academic building, each signed it with messages of hope and encouragement — a fitting symbol that ASHS is being built through shared vision, dedication and unique skillsets in education, healthcare, business and industry, government, and philanthropy.