An Iowa farmer once said, “If you build it, they will come.”  A Yukon pastor recently said, “If we refurbish it, they will come”.  And come they did.  What once stood as an old nursing home facility was now home to several victims of Hurricane Katrina.  Evacuees drove through the dark of the night, many with just the clothes on their back, to fully furnished apartment-style living accommodations.  From shoes and socks, to hot meals and hangers, evacuees found all they needed and much, much more.  Local organizations, civic groups, and hospital personnel volunteered endless hours to help members of the Resurrection Life Church repair, paint, and furnish the shelter.  Once settled in their new living quarters, hospital staff and physicians provided individual health assessments and screenings for all.  Christy Wilcox, director of nursing, stated that, “This is just an example of us living out our mission statement here at INTEGRIS.  These folks are now members of our community and they deserve the same quality of healthcare that we have been providing this area for over 4 years now.”

In addition to providing local support to Katrina victims, several hospital staff members volunteered their time to assist with the medical needs for those evacuees housed at Camp Gruber.  And, like so many of our sister hospitals across the state, we at INTEGRIS Canadian Valley strongly believe in our mission, ‘to improve the health of the people of the communities we serve’.