In June, the Go Forward Pine Bluff initiatives were approved for strategic development. As our city is committed to becoming a place its citizens are proud to call home, so JRMC is committed to being the hospital that South Arkansas is proud to claim as their healthcare provider. JRMC has rejected mediocrity and committed our hospital to excellence, doing all we can to be the best for our patients, guests and employees. As we look toward the future, we remember our past with thankfulness towards those who have shaped JRMC.
“We are thankful for our community,” said Brian Thomas, JRMC President and CEO. From our humble beginnings as Davis Hospital, JRMC has been in existence for over a century. “We have always been deeply rooted in Southeast Arkansas, and JRMC is dedicated to this region,” said Thomas. As we plan for the future, we keep the needs of our community in mind so that we can continue the legacy of providing specialized care to South Arkansas.
Every day, JRMC employees experience the warmth and resilience of our community, and JRMC is proud to call South Arkansas home.
In 2016, JRMC spent time ringing the Salvation Army bells, volunteering for the United Way of Southeast Arkansas’ Day of Caring, creating challenges and offering rewards to promote community-wide health, working to help build a Habitat For Humanity house and taking on an active service role in South Arkansas. We hope that these actions affirm that JRMC is, first and foremost, a giving organization.
In the last three years alone, $53 million of JRMC’s expenses have gone to patient financial assistance for healthcare services and community benefit. JRMC continues to provide for the people of Southeast Arkansas, regardless of their ability to pay.
JRMC is committed to seeking out opportunities to give back and strengthen our community. First, by offering excellent care to every patient. Our goal is to send every patient home both in better health and feeling JRMC exceeded their expectations.
Alonzo “Bubba” Pettigrew, a JRMC patient who spent a weekend in the hospital after having a heart attack, said his expectations were exceeded during his stay. “I am so pleased with the results of my surgery that I recommend JRMC to any and everybody,” he said. “I was back at work in a week’s time, and I have not missed a beat since—thanks to the care I got at JRMC, through my doctors and JRMC staff.”
In addition to caring for our community on an individual basis, JRMC focuses on our community’s needs as a whole by sponsoring events like “Boo on the Bayou” and the Casa Half Marathon, a race that supports the CASA Women’s Shelter, a safe haven for victims of domestic abuse victims and their children.
JRMC is also thankful for our employees. The individuals who work at JRMC each have a story to tell, and their passion is what makes JRMC’s vision come to life.
JRMC employees say they are thankful for the opportunity to improve the lives of others every day. Justin Bishop, JRMC Transport Aide, said, “I am thankful for waking up to another day and coming to work; putting a smile on other people’s faces; doing something good that I didn’t have the opportunity to do the day before.”
Other employees are accomplishing goals through hard work and the support of their JRMC family. Priscilla Lancaster, JRMC Registered Nurse said, “I’m thankful to be here at JRMC. Just last year I was a LPN and my wonderful manager worked with me and helped me to get through nursing school and accomplish the RN license I have today. I’m very grateful that I was able to have a great supervisor and coworkers who were there for me.”
JRMC employees are also thankful for family members and friends who have inspired them to become who they are today. Kit Nazareno, JRMC Occupational Therapist, said, “I am thankful for my family and my grandfather. He just passed away, and I am thankful for the memories— especially my childhood memories, because I spent a lot of time with him. He is my inspiration. He molded me. He valued hard work and perseverance and because of him, I’m here.”
Maranda Lewis, JRMC’s Care Transition Coordinator, said she is eternally grateful to be at the happiest point in her life, and that her job reminds her there is always something to be thankful for.
Don Best, JRMC Volunteer, said he is most thankful to volunteer for JRMC because he gets to help people in need. “I get to visit with some old friends I haven’t seen, and I get to meet some people that come in the front door needing help. They’re in pain and don’t know where to go or what to do, and we get to help them. So that helps me.”
By knowing our employees, JRMC has a better understanding of the hospital-to-employee relationship that is part of the culture at JRMC. Our employees say that JRMC gives them a chance to do what they love. Our response is this: every minute of bedside patient care; every person in a wheelchair they push; every piece of encouragement they offer and every positive action or attitude they display impacts the lives in South Arkansas and makes JRMC who we are, reminding us again— we have so much to be thankful for.
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