I missed my chance to attend and publicly thank our community nurses last week during the Douglas County Board of Commissioners' Proclamation of National Nurses Week. Last-minute staffing needs changed my plans to attend. Evergreen nurses were busy meeting their professional obligations at our clinics, so my target audience wouldn't have heard my thank-you remarks anyway. However, it is important to honor our Evergreen nurses and staff who have embraced their roles in caring

As I begin my new role as CEO at Evergreen Family Medicine , my community should know who we are, how we got here, and where we are going. During the mid-1990s, hospitals, large HMO groups, and insurance companies were forming or acquiring primary care practices to manage patient care. Individual practices were being absorbed by these entities all over the country. In 1995, a group of local physicians had the foresight and courage to form Evergreen Family Medicine and take a