"There's three other colleagues of mine who I worked with for 14 years that are going and I haven't seen them since the fire. So I'm really excited to get to spend time with them. But ultimately, I’m excited to help people. Isn’t that why we went into nursing? To help people. And I think it’s going to be healing for us, as well."

- April, a registered nurse in Wound Ostomy, on what she’s hoping to get out of her upcoming trip to the Marshall Islands, where a team of caregivers who worked for Adventist Health Feather River in Paradise, Calif., before the 2018 Camp Fire will distribute medical supplies salvaged from the hospital, which was partially burned and has not reopened. April moved from the Paradise area to Central Oregon last July and she started working for St. Charles in September 2020.

"As you might imagine, anybody can walk in at any time with preterm labor, so we’re ready to go 24/7. We have dedicated teams that basically jump into action at a moment’s notice. We have ongoing training and simulation to make sure our skills are up to par and up to date and it’s an ongoing practice. So, when that mom comes in, we’re ready to go and in a sense, you bring your ‘A game.’ And in that sense, I’ve worked in multiple units and this is one of the highest functioning units I’ve ever worked in, in terms of performance, camaraderie and team effort."

- Dr. Azimi, neonatologist, talking about the ways in which the St. Charles Bend Neonatal Intensive Care Unit prepares to receive its tiny patients, many of whom are born premature

“It’s worth it when you have a kid that’s leaving with a smile on their face, and they’re showing people out in the waiting room, like ‘I was brave. Look what I got.’ As opposed to walking out of here sobbing. It makes me happy, because they’re leaving here with a positive experience. This wasn’t just coming to the lab and getting poked. It adds a lot to how they feel about their visit.”

-Beka, phlebotomist, on the extra effort it takes to create cute animals out of bandage wrap for kids who have their blood drawn at St. Charles Bend. Beka has been making "coban creatures" every work day for several years, including elephants, pandas, giraffes, porcupines and other, more exotic animals. She even takes requests, and she tries to fulfill them all.

“One of my most important goals is comfort. The whole idea of this program is to educate people and help them modify the risk factors that got them into cardiac rehab in the first place. So how do we get them past that fear of starting over and feeling confident to go out and resume (living)? It’s about giving people good information about how to move forward, and this is one way we do that. It communicates comfort to patients in a somewhat stressful situation.”

- Amy, exercise specialist at St. Charles Bend, who maintains the new chalkboard wall near the entrance to Cardiopulmonary Rehab. Each week, Amy posts announcements, upcoming events, tips, suggested meals, an exercise of the week and more for patients’ perusal.

"LGBTQ pride is an exciting and important month to promote self-affirmation, increase awareness within our community and to celebrate everyone living their best authentic lives. As a member of the LGBTQ community and co-lead of St. Charles’ SOGI workgroup, I am extra proud of St. Charles for taking a closer look at how we deliver inclusive and patient-centered care to truly care for all. Together, we are making a huge positive impact within our community and I am really proud to be part of that. St. Charles is sponsoring Central Oregon Pride this year on June 22 at Drake Park, and members of the SOGI workgroup and IDEA council will be staffing the booth. Come say hello and celebrate with us!"

- Frances, Epic EHR Application Analyst II and co-lead of St. Charles' Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity workgroup.

"My twins were born there and my first child was born there (in the old hospital). When I first discovered I was pregnant with twins, it was like a month before they were born. So, I had to hurry and get doubles of everything, and it was scary to begin with. They had to be transferred to Portland for a week because they were preemies. They had them on a routine where they were a half an hour apart on things, so that kind of helped when I got them home."

- Barbara, volunteer at St. Charles Prineville, recalling when her twin girls were born more than 30 years ago in Prineville

“It’s really special to take care of people that are from the same community as me. I feel a different sense of connection taking care of people in my hometown. I loved Asante, I loved the patients there. But there’s just something about being from the same spot and taking care of patients from the same place I’m from ... this community made me who I am.”

- Anna, St. Charles Redmond nurse on moving back to her hometown

"I don’t want to sound totally corny, but we really do have great teamwork here. And everyone really collaborates. You pretty much have to. When we are dealing with trauma patients and chest tubes and pain and chronic pain and all this other stuff, you have to work together as a team."

- Amy, night shift registered nurse on the Surgical floor in Bend

"I kind of picture the ED people being like the party kids in high school. I think that having that kind of mentality, you know we see really sick people and being able to have fun here makes the place a lot looser. Otherwise, I think it would be a stress case here. It keeps the ED vibe in homeostasis."

- Tyler, St. Charles Bend Emergency Department

"What I love about this job and a town this size is I get to take care of my family, my friends and my neighbors. I get to meet the many visitors who come to my town. I want them to leave knowing it's a great place to visit and they'll always get great care."

- Dr. Fran McCabe, St. Charles Bend Emergency Department