A couple of weeks ago, Maleigha participated in the Iowa Arabian Horse Association show in Cedar Rapids. It happened to be a weekend that Rick and I were out of state, so she had to travel with friends from the farm and be responsible for herself and her horse. I was definitely nervous as there isn’t much that we miss that involves our kids, but she wanted to go so badly that I relented. This is a bigger show with some really talented riders and horses so it was a new challenge for her. The class that she was the proudest of was the Western Pleasure – Ladies and Gentlemen class. This one is a mix of men and women, and mostly adults, including some trainers. She placed second in this class and was so proud of her horse that she talked non-stop about this class. Although she ended with 6 ribbons all together, that second place one meant the most to her. People have made comments to me before when she participates in an adult class questioning why she is in there. On this day, at 14, she was able to show why she was in an adult class while understanding the value of working hard to accomplish her goals.
Over the years, we have heard similar things from our competition such as “it is easier to get higher patient satisfaction scores when you are a CAH” or “you’re just a little hospital”. Go ahead, keep underestimating us. We are fighters who work hard and will carry out our mission to provide an exceptional healthcare experience in spite of your doubts. We had the opportunity this past week to share our story with the IRPE examiners who were onsite. It was so fun to listen to our board members share their view of our organization and their pride in our workforce. We are so fortunate to have the amazing team and amazing culture to work in. We will continue to push ourselves to work hard and color outside of the lines. There is nothing we can’t accomplish if we all work together.
