A Cornucopia of Information at the September Membership Meeting
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s Dr. Trey Eubanks Offers News of Hope and Expanding Opportunities
Turning the corner into autumn, the Collierville Chamber of Commerce’s September Monthly Membership Meeting and luncheon featured an inspiring presentation by Dr. Trey Eubanks, Interim President of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, on September 13 at First Baptist Church of Collierville.
Chamber Board Chairman and CEO of Christian Brothers Automotive Collierville Jimmy Turner began the day’s event by thanking Simply Done Catering for the marvelous Mexican food they had prepared. He also recognized the Chamber’s Premier Partners, as well as noting two recent ribbon-cutting events: The Pickler Companies recently expanded their already strong foothold in Collierville near their current office location with an impressive event space for the area, and Southern Security Federal Credit Union broke ground on their new headquarters at Byhalia Road and Southern Homes Road. Turner also recognized civic leaders and elected officials in attendance. He ended his brief introductory remarks by discussing the upcoming election of new board members.
Mark Heuberger, CEO and President of the Collierville Chamber began by welcoming several new Chamber members. Mark addressed another recent and exciting ribbon-cutting: Adjuvants Unlimited. The chemical agriculture company just opened its new location at the old West Cancer Center offices on Poplar. He then commented on the Chamber’s recent eventful and informative trip to Nashville, providing Chamber members a chance to meet legislators and other government officials and tour a few spots of interest in Music City.
Now that a new school year has begun, the Chamber’s Monthly Membership Meeting once again served as an opportunity for Collierville High School to recognize a Student of the Month. Roger Jones, Principal of Collierville High School, and Charles Brasfield of Patriot Bank took the podium to highlight Collierville High’s Daksa Mohan. Jones commented on the young scholar’s impressive credentials – academic, civic and artistic. Ms. Mohan has compiled a 4.81 weighted GPA and is number one in the senior class as well as being a member of the 30+ ACT Club. She is a gifted dancer and participates in Indian Classical Dance in an effort to bridge cultures. Her civic involvement includes teaching ESL, volunteering at LeBonheur and taking part in the High School Immersion Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She plans to pursue a pre-medical academic path in cell biology working toward both a Ph.D and M.D.
Next up, Melissa Kandel of OrthoSouth, the day’s luncheon sponsor, spoke briefly about her company’s focus on individual care and the desire to have patients of the orthopedic group leave each visit with a good experience. Dawn Graeter, President & CEO of Southern Security, the day’s program sponsor, gave a brief overview of Southern Security’s most recent groundbreaking and mentioned the company’s 3-digit growth since 2011, pointing to their 23,000 members and their $234,000,000 in assets. Graeter then introduced the day’s featured speaker, Dr. Trey Eubanks, chief of pediatric surgery and Interim President of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. As Graeter turned the podium over to Eubanks, she said, “It is a blessing to have Le Bonheur in Memphis.”
Eubanks began his talk with a brief overview of the comprehensive children’s hospital, mentioning the 3,400 employees and the growing service delivery. In addition to mentioning their working relationship with UTHSC. On a local level, Eubanks mentioned the hospital’s work with Collierville High School as they have trained students and teachers in CPR, with courses taught by a cardiologist.
The doctor mentioned the hospital’s $95m expansion program – the largest since 2010 – and its growing need for more nurses. Eubanks went on to discuss the ongoing need for even more complex new technologies. He followed the hospital’s expansion into friendlier environments, noting that with many technologies and capabilities comes the need for extended stays. New rooms are made to accommodate patients’ and families’ needs. As he outlined the hospital’s expansion and newer approaches to healthcare for young patients, including the expanded use of better and smaller MRIs, he added that exciting new amenities such as a rooftop courtyard will provide access to the outdoors. Finally, through the continued use of AV, he showed the addition of Seacrest Studios in the hospital, a state-of-the-art media and broadcast center for young patients, made possible by recording and media artist, Ryan Seacrest.
Dr. Eubanks concluded his remarks with an invitation to become involved in the hospital through tours and advocacy.
To close out the day, Dr. Mary McDonald CEO of MCD Partners, and Maureen Yarbrough, Founder of Sign Matters, Inc., outlined the dynamic program that awaits attendees at this year’s inaugural Ascend Regional Business Summit, to be held on November 7 at the Hilton Memphis. The day features a breakfast reception, a keynote address by the subject of the Oscar-winning film Undefeated and author Bill Courtney, morning and afternoon panel discussions led by local and national business leaders, lunch, and a cocktail hour. Reservations and ticket information are available through the Chamber. Please call at 901-853-1949 or visit the Ascend event page here.