On Tuesday, March 14, regional leadership from the Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) came to McCurtain Memorial Hospital to present the hospital with an award for its top performance in the state. Each year, MMH holds numerous blood drives and those are coordinated by Kandi Box, the hospitals Blood Drive Coordinator.
(Photo by MMH: Left to right, Ashlin Butler, Kena Allen, Brian Whitfield, Dustin Leonard, Charlie Johnson, Tubby Smith, Patti Barker and Doug Crowsen)
OBI noted that during the pandemic, many hospitals cancelled their blood drives and despite being willing to take extra precautions, many hospitals would not let OBI holds drives.
MMH never cancelled a single drive nor denied access to OBI or donors.
Kandi was recognized by OBI.
"Kandi has been a phenomenal partner to work with in coordinating these drives. She is truly a very hard working, dedicated employee and McCurtain Memorial should be very proud of her." Tubby Smith with OBI said.
Patti Barker with OBI shared Tubby Smith's sentiments about Kandi and the hospitals commitment to hosting the blood drives over the last five years.
"It has truly been a pleasure working with MMH and Kandi." Barker said.
(Photo by MMH: (Left to right: CEO Brian Whitfield and Kandi Box, Drive Coordinator)
Joined by members of the Executive leadership team at the hospital, Kandi received a plaque from OBI today. Only two hospitals are chosen in the entire region.
The above graph shows that despite the pandemic, which had a significant impact on blood donations, MMH continued an upward trend. On Tuesday, a blood drive was held while OBI officials were on site and 41 units of blood were donated - much of which comes from MMH employees.