CEO Message: IF NOT US, THEN WHO

“Sitting here watching the snow fall this morning outside my office window & contemplating the challenges and triumphs of 2020.  We have accomplished incredible work this year and it has been an amazing experience to lead you through each day, even though each day is filled with challenges we wish we weren’t overcoming. We are caregivers, people who are that ray of hope in a world that doesn’t seem to care very much. You are that smile to the downtrodden and the desperate, a hand to those who are in pain, struggling for each breath and seeking answers for what is wrong and an ear to listen to hearts that aren’t doing so well, literally and metaphorically.  Be proud of your accomplishments this year, I am. It may not have been the year the business & strategic plan had laid out yet instead it was a testament to the heart & soul of each person who is a part of Missouri Highlands.

This year we welcomed Wayne County folks into our family, opened the Urgent Care in Doniphan and started the Women’s Clinic in Poplar Bluff. Through our efforts we have provided services to those whose needs would otherwise not be met as they lack a key part of good health – coverage for medical, dental and behavioral health conditions.   With Missouri’s decision to expand Medicaid coverage, our roles as caregivers to the most vulnerable populations continues to be important.  We will be able to provide care to those who haven’t set foot inside a clinic years and whom will need lots of patience and education and people with heart.  I’m glad Missouri Highlands is here to serve them and I am incredibly proud that it will be you who show them how health care should be delivered.

There are those inside & outside of Missouri Highlands who question taking on the challenges and opportunities we have this year. My response has been the same for the last 11 years since I joined this family – if not us, then who will take care of our friends, families and neighbors? We exist to fill the health care needs of our communities, to be the hand, smile and heart of health care. We get to do health care differently, because of you – you are the key to all of our success!

My Christmas wish is that each of you take the time to reflect on the good you have accomplished this year – on those most fragile individuals you impacted, on those most challenging of days that you survived, and on those co-workers you reached out to and helped like family.  Thank you for each day and each blessing you were to someone in need.” – Karen White, CEO of MHHC