The bridge between patients and hospital services

Grace Marksbury knows the value of community partnership more than most. She had only been the Emergency Department Director at Baptist Health Floyd for about a year when Covid-19 arrived and emergency rooms became the world’s stage. In a situation that was foreign to everyone, changing constantly, and required great personal risk and courage, Grace saw the profound impact that the community and Baptist Health could make together.

“The community support was amazing!” Grace remembered, “Our hallways were lined with cards that kids had sent in for us. People sent in food and encouragement, and we really felt like we were doing this really hard thing together.”

That ongoing community partnership is one of the main reasons that Grace values the Baptist Health Foundation. Her team works hard to care for patients, and improved technology and services is a key piece of patient care. She knows the Foundation serves as the bridge between grateful patients and continually improving hospital services.

With a love of fast-paced, never-the-same-day service, Grace thrives in the continued challenge of the emergency room. She helped launch improved ambulance systems and streamlined emergency care. She loves a challenge almost as much as she loves seeing grateful patients who received quality care.

Though the Baptist Health Foundation is new, Grace has already seen improvements to the hospital and patient care through the partnership with the community. In addition to helping with patient costs and staff care, the hospital is finalizing a Level II Neonatal Care Unit (NICU), which provides state-of-the-art care for newborns with more complicated care needs. This helps patients in Southern Indiana have quality care options in their own neighborhood.

Ultimately, Grace supports every effort to improve patient care for the community. She grew up in the area, had her own two children at the hospital and cares about her neighborhood. She wants the hospital to continue to grow in technology, qualified providers and community resources so that it’s more equipped to meet the medical needs for her own community.