My name is Beth Leavell. I have been with Community Hospital Network for about 18 years. I have worked in Same Day Surgery and Recovery Room all of those years. Recently I joined the Quality Management team to become a Nursing Quality Resources Coordinator. I am a member of the Network and CHA’s Diversity team.

CHA’s Mission and Vision for the diversity team is to recognize the need for cultural awareness not only in the diverse community we serve here in Madison County and its’ surrounding areas but also within our CHA family of employees. The committee strives to address the many issues and aspects that encompass that awareness, and to put in place education, information and activities to broaden our knowledge base. We also work to provide all individuals a sense of empathy towards the culturally diverse backgrounds of not only other, but of our own cultures.

I am a Hoosier born, right here in Anderson, before there was a Community Anderson; so yes, I was born at St. Johns. I grew up in Pendleton in the only Black family at the time. I went to school at Eden Elementary and graduated from High School in Maxwell, “Hancock Central”, in a class of 60 students, total. I attended Purdue and later received my BSN from IUPUI. I now have a Masters in Nursing Education and Leadership.

I am the oldest of four children, and we all have a college education, something that was very important to our parents. We grew up in what I called a schizophrenic time. We had gurus that advocated LSD and peace, Malcolm X and the Muslim Nation, Black Power and Angela Davis or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Non-violent Civil Rights Movement. At any rate, if you wanted a revolution, you really could pick and choose. These years have transformed me into a black woman with many layers, who can see many different sides to the same situation.

I am now a grandmother of five, soon to be six, and have been married to husband Tim for 34 years. Family is very important to us, and we often traveled out of state to attend several family reunions each summer. The family reunion tradition begun in the old days when members within the same family were usually sold to separate plantation owners. Often families did not know their own blood lines. Family reunions were organized so one would know “who was and was not your kin”. The reunions now take place on cruise ships; they have scholarship committees and other planning committees. The food, a very big issue, is prepared from the members of the hosting city and state or catered. The reunions are over weekends and often involve several events of “Break Bread Together”. There are activities for adults and children, door prizes for the oldest family member to the youngest, most recent married or the family member that traveled the farthest etc.

I am very involved with my church; I enjoy reading, love old movies and water coloring. I am interested in learning Spanish enough to carry on a conversation with any patient. I am looking for a partner so we can speak Spanish and hopefully retain what we learn.