Presbyterian Hospital prayer vigil
Update: NorthPark Presbyterian Church, the church nearest to Presbyterian Hospital, invites the community to participate in Tuesday’s Day of Prayer at their church home. “We are happy to join in the endeavor and would like to make our sanctuary available for people throughout the day,” says Pastor Brent Barry, a Lake Highlands resident. NPPC is located at 9555 North Central Expressway, between Walnut Hill and Park Lane. The church will be open Tuesday from 9 to 4.
If you’d like to hear more from Barry, read his heartfelt column, co-written with Rabbi Debra J. Robbins for the Dallas Morning News, here.
The national news trucks are gone, the first round of quarantined contacts have been released, and for the first time in weeks, Dallas feels free to breathe a breath of fresh air. On a day when no one in Dallas has Ebola, one Lake Highlands mom is planning a prayer vigil in support of the hard-working doctors and nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital.
“Regardless of what we feel about the way [the Ebola crisis] was handled,” says Wanda Campbell, “I think the exhausted staff at Presby need our heartfelt prayers. These people were not trained for all of this and have been on the front lines in the worst of times. Personally, I would not have wanted to be at the epicenter of all these decisions and actions the past few weeks. This is a Dallas hospital that has served us well for decades.”
Campbell is asking friends and neighbors to share her request on social media and to pray on Tuesday, October 21st.
“I chose the 21st because of the significance of the 21 day isolation period,” she added. “My hope is that we will all pray where we are, throughout the day.”
Presbyterian employees from LH say they are grateful for the support they have received from the community.
“I’d like to thank everyone for the prayers and kind words they have sent to me personally and to the amazing people who work at THD,” said attorney Paige Fugate. “Being at Presby is like being with family. Most people I know come here for their career. Our culture is one of support and nurture. We work together as a team, and leadership encourages this atmosphere. I have been here almost 20 years, and it’s the only place I would go as a patient.”
All three of Fugate’s children were born in the hospital, and husband, Hunt, had life-saving heart valve surgery there more than 10 years ago.
Wendy Howard says she, too, will be praying. She says she’s grateful to Wanda for organizing the effort, especially since her own daughter, Brittany, works as a dietitian at the hospital. Exhausted, under scrutiny and some living at Presby while they are in isolation, “they definitely need our prayers,” Howard said.
“It’s an honor to work as part of the Texas Health family,” wrote Brittany Howard Sparks in an email. “It’s been encouraging to see all types of health care professionals coming together in this difficult time to truly carry out our promise – individuals caring for individuals, together. We are devoted to providing the best care to every single one of our patients, no matter what. It’s a blessing to work with such wonderful and inspired people. I look forward to coming to work every day and am truly #presbyproud!”
If you’d like to participate in the social media effort, simply copy and share Campbell’s green box. If and how you pray, she says, is up to you.
