The following is a message from CHC President and CEO to the staff of CHC:

Today,  is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr  Day and we take a moment to reflect on the life of a great man.

He would be great if he only spoke truth to power on the issue of Civil Rights in America, but he did so much more. He spoke out against our governments involvement in war  and most eloquently about the economic inequalities that exist between the rich and the poor.

But most of all he made real what it meant to be a Good Samaritan and the journey we need to travel.

He said  “A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.  On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act.  One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway.  True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial.  It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.  A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.”

Everyday our own staff works, on life’s highway,  with people for whom poverty has shut the door of opportunity.  Dr. King has been an inspiration in the work we do every day to serve others with respect and dignity and carry out our vision: health care is a right, not a privilege.

Thank you to each and every one of you for the important work you do here every day.