A graduate of Russellville High School is going to work for Joe DiMaggio.

As almost everyone knows, DiMaggio, who is familiar to one generation as the Yankee Clipper of New York Yankees fame and to a later generation as Mr. Coffee, has been deceased for several years. Yet his legend lives on in many ways. One of them is in the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Holywood, Fla.

Now Dr. Dawnisa Baker, a 1993 graduate of Russellville High School, is moving to Florida this summer to take a position in pediatric anesthesiology and specializng in pediatric cardiac anesthesia at the hospital named for the baseball great

“From the time Joe DiMaggio cut the ribbon opening Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in September of 1992, we have helped thousands of children and achieved many significant milestones of excellence.,” says the hospital's website.

“Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a world-class pediatric hospital that often ranks in the nation’s top 1 to 2 percent in patient satisfaction, according to Press Ganey surveys. It has earned the distinction of being the leading ’childrens hospital in Broward and Palm Beach counties. This premier facility combines leading-edge technology and the expertise of a highly trained medical staff all in a setting designed specifically for young patients. We provide a compassionate, family-centered care environment. Information-sharing and collaboration between families and staff are the cornerstones of this unique approach.”

Dr. Baker is an award-winning young pediatric anesthesiologist. She graduated from the University of Louisville in 1998 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both biology and psychology. At U of L she was president of Delta Zeta sorority and member of the homecoming court. She was also on the student orientation staff for incoming freshmen.

In 1998, she moved to Carbondale, Ill. to work for Pfizer pharmaceuticals. Then from 2001-05 she attended Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, which is located in Springfield, Ill..

From 2005-2009, she did her Anesthesiology Residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Then in 2009 she moved to Nashville for a pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at the Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hosptial at Vanderbilt. She will complete that appointment before moving on to Florida.

In 2008 she won first place on her presentation at the Midwest Anesthesia Residence Conference. Her subject was “Live Transplantation in a Two-Year-old with Situs Inversus.” The following year she did an abstract presentation at the Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology in Jacksonville, Fla. Her subject was “Oximetry in a Newborn with Hydoplastic Left Heart Syndrome from Birth to Atrial Septostory.”

Dr. Baker is the daughter of Cheryl and Gaither 'Shorty' Taylor of Russellville.