Operation Healthy Delta ended a successful effort of providing no-cost medical care this week, all on the Three Rivers College campus.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, President Dr. Wes Payne thanked participating servicemen and women as well as the school’s staff for making the monumental event possible.
Chuck Stratton, director of special projects and public safety, organized TRC’s resources to host the event and ensure it ran smoothly. Stratton shared stories of grateful patients, such as people crying with joy after receiving treatment, and three homeless people who arrived and left with housing. Beyond improving peoples’ quality of life, the operation even saved lives, he said.
“I saw medical people who literally saved the lives of two people there. One came in not knowing that they were suffering tachycardia at the time,” Stratton said.
Operation Healthy Delta was also conducted in Sikeston and across the Illinois state line in Anna-Jonesboro, serving a regional total of 2,200 patients. The program was an Innovative Range Training exercise for combat medics across multiple military branches and members of the US Public Health Service. Representing these personnel was Maj. Justin Cannel, who grew up in Farmington. He praised TRC’s hospitality, especially the decision to house service members in the campus dormitories.
“I worked alongside members who were on other IRT missions, and all I heard was, ‘This is the best IRT I’ve been on. This is the best location I’ve ever worked out of,’” he said.
Participants volunteered for the operation out of compassion, he continued.
“My team, they’re doing this because this is why they put on the uniform and they want to help people, and the opportunity to help your own people in your own country is very uncommon outside of a humanitarian mission or big national natural disaster. So we love these. I have no doubt that with the success of this site, there’s every real expectation that we might be able to come back again,” Canell said.
Board Chairman Eric Schalk said Operation Healthy Delta’s mission aligned with the goals of TRC as a community resource.
“I think that is part of our mission. We are here for the community. Whether they’re students or not, this is a community college. It’s for the community. I’m sure if there’s a chance we would welcome you back with open arms,” he said.
Another recent health care event on campus was the Mental Health Conference on May 19. Corey Reynolds, the behavioral health support program coordinator, reported there were 184 attendees. Keynote speakers were Carol Goodman and Mariah Joplin from FCC Behavioral Health, who spoke about WISE (Welcoming, Inclusive, Safe and Equitable) mental service environments. Other topics included mental health in the LGBTQ+ community and suicide prevention.
“Mr. Reynolds has done an exemplary job of tying the college and his program in with our local mental health providers, and really creating an integrated partnership that gets us out into the community, gets the community on campus, and really increases the vitality of his program and the experiences his students have,” remarked Payne.
As the school year and sports seasons closed out, rodeo coach Chad Phipps reported he was in contact with the Professional Bull Riding Teen Series about a potential avenue for scholarships. The PBR recognized the need to teach and develop the next generation of bull riders, he explained, and were looking to college programs like TRC’s.
“It’s going to be a work in progress, but I want them to grab those kids and brand them with their team names, and then pay for them to come to school,” he said.
The board also reviewed commencement and the registered nurse pinning ceremony, both of which occurred in May. TRC’s RN program graduated 49 students in May, and nursing program director Laura McElroy reported all the graduates had job offers and a full cohort of students were lined up for the next semester.
“The rest of Missouri is having a kind of a decrease in nursing applicants. In our area, I’m really happy that we don’t have that,” she said.
Payne thanked staff for all of their hard work on commencement, saying, “This was, in my opinion, one of the smoothest most efficient commencement ceremonies that we have done in my time doing commencement. It just worked flawlessly.”
CFO Charlotte Eubank provided a favorable statement on the school’s revenue.
“We’re just under a million dollars behind where we were last year,” she said. “However, if you remember last year’s numbers, we had about $2.3 million in one-time funds that were provided in the CARES Act through the federal government. So having an extra 2.3 in last year’s one-time money and then only being a million dollars behind compared to that number, we’re actually kind of ahead from that perspective.”