New hospital CEO to speak at ‘working lunch’ today

Less than a month after being named CEO of Cloud County Health Center, Cherri Waites will take the floor at the next Community Needs Forum “working lunch” to talk about new initiatives at the hospital and provide on update on happenings there.

Waites, who was hired as the chief financial officer of the hospital in Aug. 2014, had been serving as the interim chief executive officer since the resignation of Don Bates on March 10. She accepted the permanent CEO position in late June.

The lunch will be from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, July 17, at the Nazareth Motherhouse. Lunch will be provided without charge by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and those planning to come are asked to RSVP to 243-2149 or sisterjean@csjkansas.org. Parking is available in the new lot on the east side of the Motherhouse.

Other items on the agenda include:

• Information for National Night Out, on Tuesday, Aug. 4. People throughout Concordia are urged to host neighborhood gatherings as a part of this national event, co-sponsored locally by the Concordia Year of Peace Committee and the Concordia Police Department.
• An update on the Civility Pledge, which this year for the first time will be offered in conjunction with National Night Out.
• Details about two presentations on Aug. 13 titled “What you need to know: New drugs that our kids already know about.” At these sessions, sponsored by the Cloud County Chemical Dependency Committee, a representative from Prevention and Recovery Services Inc. in Topeka will discuss emerging drug trends and substance abuse data that compare local youth to statewide statistics.
• Information about presentations on Sept. 15 by former NFL player Don McPherson, focusing on domestic violence and sexual assault. During the afternoon, McPherson will speak with area youth and then will give a presentation to the general public that evening in Cook Theatre at Cloud County Community College.

Also at the July 17 gathering, various groups and individuals will provide updates on other of community events and projects.

The Community Needs Forum grew out of informal meetings between the Sisters of St. Joseph and community leaders in the fall of 2008. The first working lunch was held in January 2009, and the continuing gatherings have identified what participants see as the greatest needs in the community and have established smaller groups to seek solutions. The working lunches continue to provide an opportunity for updates on projects and a clearinghouse for new ideas.

Everyone is invited to take part; you don’t have to have attended earlier lunches to join the process now.