You’ve heard it many times before if you’ve ever had the opportunity to listen to Highlands-Cashiers Hospital CEO Tom Neal give a speech or spoken to him face to face.
He will tell you time and time again that nurses truly are the backbone of the community, not just here but across the country.
Listening to the stories of nurses Stephanie Mallonee and Kimberly Townsend at Highlands-Cashiers Hospital, it’s difficult not to see who inspired them to get into healthcare.
Both cited their grandmothers as their inspirations, and Mallonee said her grandmother was the caregiver for the neighborhood during the era of WWII. That caring and loving attribute was passed down to her, and Mallonee said it’s now something she loves to do on a daily basis at Eckerd Living Center.
But it is an unfortunate side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that nurses are in short supply these days. Hospital leaders are trying to do everything they can to shore up their staff while also trying to provide the best continuum of care for the patients all across the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau and beyond.
Neal also wrote about the paid-to-learn CNA training program that is offered at Eckerd Living Center. It’s offered up to three times per year, and the hospital will be recruiting for the next class soon.
The six-week course serves as a springboard for many individuals who want to get into the nursing field, and once they are in, the possibilities are endless as to what you can do within that sector.
May 6-12 is National Nurses Week, and the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital has a list of activities and events planned for the hospital staff throughout next week, Neal said.
If you have a friend or family member who is a nurse in the region, regardless of whether its at HCH, Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, or Angel Medical Center in Franklin, please take the time to thank them for everything they have done to help their communities.
Without these nurses, there would be a severe lack of healthcare in the area. It is critical that we remind them of all the good work they have done. They just helped us get through one of the deadliest health crises in history, so let’s do our part to show them how much they are appreciated.