As we prepare for the historical week of April 16 and the move of acute services from UMC to the CRMC campus, I enjoyed the celebration of UMC last Thursday.  Bruce Kinder was absolutely right when he said the abundance of caring by the nurses, staff and physicians that has occurred there over the many years patients have been served in the facility, not the building, is what made UMC great. I had the opportunity to talk with Dr.Gene Kallsen that evening as well.  He spoke of the great nurses in both facilities.  As we look forward to the move, I think of the synergy we will experience in bringing the 2 facilities together.  This is expressed in the theme the Target 100 team selected "Bigger than ever, Stronger Together."  I know it will be hard for the staff to leave a place that you have worked for many or a few years, but, you will bring that abundance with you when you move and together with the CRMC staff we will become better than ever. 

At this time of transition, I also remember a time about 11 1/2 years ago when we (CMC) closed Sierra Community Hospital.  I had worked at SCH for 15 years, it was a great place to work.  But it wasn't the building, it was the people that made it great.  When I round in our facilities today, I see many of the "old" Sierra staff still working in CMC facilities today.  They have brought the caring that Sierra was known for to the units they work in today.  As I look ahead, I know that some day in the future, others will look back at April, 2007 and talk about how the vision of the Academic Regional Medical Center has been achieved.