Standing in solidarity with Houston

The news and images coming out of the Texas Gulf Coast have been heart-wrenching. At the same time, it has been inspiring to see the human spirit in action, strangers helping strangers and doing everything possible to take care of one another.

Houston is a good 525 miles from Lubbock, Texas, where Covenant Health, a member of the Providence St. Joseph Health family, is located. I was inspired by two of our Covenant NICU nurses – Sally Dillashaw and Reid Fry – who were part of a medical evacuation team for critically ill newborns. I thought you might be interested in reading one of the news stories about Sally and Reid, which you can find here

Three ways Providence St. Joseph Health is responding

When disaster of this magnitude strikes, the caregivers of Providence St. Joseph Health never fail to ask, “What can we do to help?” True to form, we received emails from many of our caregivers over the past few days asking that very question.

Here are three ways Providence St. Joseph Health is responding.

1. We are making a systemwide donation to the American Red Cross to support the people of Houston.
2. We will match contributions to the Red Cross from our caregivers, dollar for dollar. (If you are one of the 111,000 caregivers of Providence St. Joseph Health and are interested in donating, please check our Intranets and newsletters for a link to our special caregiver donation site, which should be up and live this week.)
3. We are reaching out and sending medical supplies to our partners, such as World Vision, that are participating in relief efforts.

We are also standing in solidarity with Catholic health systems in the Houston area and will support them in meeting the long-term needs of the affected communities. This will be a lengthy recovery process, and we want to extend our support beyond the immediate crisis.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Texas Gulf Coast. We especially want to recognize the health care workers of that region. Even as they face their own personal adversity and strain during this trying time, their dedication to patients, many of whom are very sick and vulnerable, has been steadfast and heroic. On behalf of your fellow caregivers at Providence St. Joseph Health, we commend you and thank you.