Celebrating Our People – Meet Beth

After several CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group offices moved into the new medical office building on the Saint Joseph London campus last year, Beth Wilson, executive assistant to the medical group chief operating officer, faced a daunting challenge: Repurpose most of the furnishings and medical equipment that filled a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in six months.

“As the move drew closer, we had leased space in the community that totaled 55,000 square feet,” Beth said. “Everything in the new building was new, down to the trash cans. We had over 20 years of items in clinics. Something had to be done with [the extra furnishings and medical equipment.]

“I came up with the idea to centralize all of the belongings that were left. After the movers moved the clinics into the new building, we moved all of the old furnishings into this rental space. It took 12 men and six trucks four and a half days to move everything into storage.”

After taking inventory, Beth said items from this allotment were set aside for the new clinic spaces, then extra furnishings were donated, repaired or sold, with money raised from sales going into a fund the medical group will use to sponsor families during the Christmas season.

“We were able to donate to local churches, like chairs for Sunday school rooms,” Beth said. “There was one church that was starting a food bank, and they were in desperate need for a refrigerator with no shelves in it to stack gallons of milk. We had a refrigerator with no shelves in it.”

The project gave Beth a sense of satisfaction in helping the medical group offices move into a new facility and the community who benefitted from the donations of extra furniture and decor.

“Being good stewards of our resources by repurposing and reusing and being able to help so many organizations in town that help the people gives me a huge amount of satisfaction,” Beth said. “Especially knowing I was [not only] helping the medical group and our clinics, but I was also giving back to the community by serving those in need.”

Outside of work, Beth serves on the board of directors for United Way of London and loves to travel on a Harley Davidson motorcycle with her family. A Harley Davidson family, Beth said her parents regularly rode Harleys before having kids. Since then, her cousins, uncle and aunt rediscovered their love for traveling the open back roads in southeast Kentucky on a Harley.

“The longest trip I rode was 238 miles in one day; that’s a round-trip to Red River Gorge,” Beth said. “We take day trips and sometimes overnight trips to Pigeon Forge. I’ll go anytime they’re ready to go. I ride [on the back with my family]. That’s the best way because I get to look around. We take back roads; we don’t do the interstate.”