NOTE: This message was emailed to team members from Alan Levine, Ballad Health’s CEO and president, on Friday, July 3.
Dear Colleagues:
As we mark our nation’s 250th anniversary commemorating the courage, vision and bravery of our founders, we owe it to them to remind ourselves that our freedoms came at a heavy price. We must not squander them. Instead, we must constantly seek to honor what was given so that we may take solace from the fact that our rights and freedoms came from God – not from government – and that this enduring principle will always set us apart. It is a gift, but it comes with enormous responsibility.
One of our founders, John Adams, reminds us that our real independence day came on July 2, the day the Declaration of Independence was voted upon by the continental congress. President Adams never actually celebrated the 4th, but in his writings, said that the anniversary of our independence should always be celebrated, with song, parades, families and neighbors and flags. Of course, he wanted all this to happen on July 2nd rather than the 4th. Why was he so set on the 2nd? Because when the debate began on whether to embark upon the Declaration of Independence, there were many voices in the continental congress who wanted to seek reconciliation with England … they wanted to take the safe route … to sum it up … it was easier and the cost of independence too great. But people like John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, they used their voices of persuasion, reason and the law to compel the congress to vote for independence. And that vote, on July 2nd, changed the entire world.
This American spirit, where we compel action through our voice, whether through a vote or standing on main street with a bullhorn, shows the world that a great and powerful nation’s most inspiring attribute is the voice of “we the people.”
To share with you how compelling our nation’s story is, I want to share with you a story about something that recently happened at Johnson City Medical Center. It is a story born out of the love for our patients and for our country that our hospice and oncology team members put on full display.
You see, they were caring for a patient suffering from cancer, and who was facing the end of his life. This man had been on a journey to become a United States citizen. As he was transitioning to comfort measures and discharge to his home, the patient shared his disappointment that he would not likely survive to become a United States citizen – he had passed his written and oral exams, making it to the final stage of his citizenship journey, but could not get an appointment for a “swearing-in” ceremony.
Nurse Julia Rushing asked the patient and his family for permission to discuss the case with her father, a former FBI agent. He was able to connect with the right individuals to expedite his immigration papers to local authorities and scheduled a swearing in ceremony in the patient’s home. Upon discharge, the patient told his nurses he was happy that he could now “die in a suit as a proud American.”
Nurse Victoria Taylor continued to coordinate with the family and local authorities. Unfortunately, time was not on the patient’s side. He passed away in his home … the night before his scheduled swearing-in ceremony.
Our team knows that caring for people means we never stop trying to help them. In this case, this even meant after the patient passed away. Nurse Nannette Feeback arranged for a folded American flag to be presented at his funeral through her connections with the Tennessee Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
I am sorry this man never got to be sworn in as an American. It was his last living wish. And while we could not control God’s plan for his departure from this world, our team could do something to help his family feel the sense of pride he deserved to feel for himself. And they did it.
I am so proud of them.
God has put each of us in a place where we have the opportunity to use the gifts he bestowed upon us, combined with the freedoms he delivered to us through the voices, muskets and swords of our founders. I see it all the time throughout Ballad Health: it’s our culture. Our respect for our freedoms, our love for our faith and our commitment to integrity.
On this special independence day, I hope you will both enjoy, and reflect, on the gift that we each have been given. And that you will do all you can to pass it along to those who follow.
God Bless You, and God Bless the United States of America!
Alan
