On Jan. 20, ECU Health had the opportunity to reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in events across eastern North Carolina. In Greenville, two ECU Health leaders served as speakers in community events.
On Monday morning, Brian Floyd, chief operating officer of ECU Health, served as the keynote speaker during the Community Unity Breakfast, hosted by the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce. Later in the day, Dr. Michael Waldrum, chief executive officer of ECU Health, sat on a panel of community leaders for a Celebrating the Life & Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. event at Jarvis United Methodist Church.
During the 29th annual Community Unity Breakfast, which ECU Health sponsors along with other local organizations, Floyd offered remarks focused on the power of a small group of people making a big difference in their community and across the world.
Floyd reflected that Dr. King’s work brought an awakening of the nation’s conscience and inspired others to advance civic causes and responsibilities. He related this back to the work of local leaders decades ago who saw troubling trends in the health of eastern North Carolinians.
“These people saw that and they gathered together and wondered, ‘What can we do about it?’ The idea is: let’s build access to care by creating physicians to serve in eastern North Carolina. They petitioned the state and they fought hard to get the right thing done, too,” Floyd said. “They took what little bit they had to offer and said we’ll take a little bit of this hospital and a little bit of this university and a whole lot of our interest, and people taking loans out to begin this process and petition the state to build what is now the Brody School of Medicine and what has become a national leader in academic medicine here at our hospital.”
Floyd said over the years at ECU Health Medical Center, hundreds of physicians and thousands of team members have served the community and transformed the once small county hospital into one of the nation’s largest academic medical centers. The community also had a vision for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, which trains the most of North Carolina’s primary care physicians today.
He said the success stories of ECU Health Medical Center and the Brody School of Medicine are because of people who had the courage to step up and make a difference in their community.
“People who have the courage to do something probably don’t even realize where it’s taking the future,” Floyd said. “If we have the courage to solve health care disparities or try to address them, we use what we have. Just a handful of people can put in motion something that really can be transformational.”
He closed by reflecting on Dr. King’s words, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Floyd asked those in attendance to avoid becoming complacent in seeking change and advocating for the well-being of others. He said he’s proud of the work of 15,00-plus team members across the organization taking action each day with a commitment to improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.