A NOTE FROM Reginald W. Coopwood, MD When I’m in my office at Regional One Health, I can hear the helicopters coming in, landing on the roof to bring patients to our trauma center. Every time, I think about not only the patient, but the terrified loved ones who were ripped out of a normal day and dropped into a nightmare. But I also think about how those helicopters are racing those patients to expert medical care, and to doctors and nurses with compassion and skill. They’re racing them toward hope. It’s the same hope a family feels when a premature baby who would otherwise be too fragile to survive is cared for in our NICU, the same hope a burn victim experiences when they walk into the healing cocoon of our hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the same hope a couple holds onto when our high-risk pregnancy team describes an innovative surgery that could save their unborn baby. It’s a hope that keeps people going during the toughest times of their lives. And it’s a hope that you, our generous donors, help to provide. As I listen to those helicopters, I also think about what would happen if there weren’t men and women atop a rooftop in downtown Memphis waiting to provide a second chance at life. Without Regional One Health, thousands of families would be forever broken rather than welcoming home survivors. Tens of thousands of parents would be mourning lost babies rather than raising their children. Countless burn victims would be living with devastating wounds rather than returning to fulfilling lives. Mothers would be saying goodbye to babies they never got to know rather than cradling precious newborns in their arms. Regional One Health improves lives, and our impact extends far beyond Shelby County or even the sixstate region our specialized services reach. That is because our impact is not limited to the individual. We have trained over half the doctors in Tennessee and continue to build the next generation of physicians. We are advocating for innovation to improve health care for everyone. We are enhancing care for patients with the most complex needs to ease the personal and societal burden of frequent emergency room visits and extended hospital stays. Donors like you support our ability to effect positive change, both in individual lives and in the overall field of health care. Because of you, we can continue to bring in the best minds and give them the resources they need to do the toughest, most impactful work of their careers. And because of you, when I sit at my desk and hear those helicopters come in, I can know that they’re heading exactly where they need to go – to a place of calm amid chaos, a port in the storm, a team prepared to help when people are thrust from normal to nightmare. To hope. Reginald W. Coopwood, MD President and CEO Regional One Health regionalonehealth.org/foundation/change-a-life-donate-today/ 1
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