Thoughts on Thanksgiving 2017

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving!

The two questions I am asked most about my job are:

• HOW do you do it?
  
• WHY do you do it?

It’s not hard to answer these questions.

How I do my job is with the expert assistance and support of an excellent team of leaders – deans, chairs, department heads, executive staff, clinical administrative leadership, vice chancellor’s office staff, student leaders and many others.  It’s a long list of people, and neither I nor this complex organization could begin to function effectively without them. 

Why I do this job is because of the tangible passion for our mission that is evident to me each day in the work occurring throughout the Medical Center. 

So, as you can see, all of YOU are critical to the how and why for me. I am grateful for your spirit, conviction and belief in the sacred responsibilities entrusted to us.

Any and all of you – staff, students, faculty – could choose an easier path, a more lucrative career, a place to work with greater resources and fewer challenges.  But you are here.  You inspire me and inspire and uplift each other.  I see it.  I feel it. 

On a daily basis, I am grateful and awed by your commitment to a greater cause.

I’ll conclude by remembering a former colleague of ours, Jim Spruiell, who died Sunday night in a medical helicopter crash in Arkansas, along with two other crew members.  Jim was the chief flight nurse at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, a 20-year veteran flight paramedic, and a longtime friend and supporter of our AirCare program.  He is remembered for being the absolute best at his profession and for always putting his patients first.

Losing Jim is a reminder of how much we have, and how quickly it can all be gone.  All the more reason to treasure this time with your family and friends.  For those of you spending the holiday with your Medical Center “family,” I so appreciate that you are serving our patients on this day when they need us more than most.