Inspired Giving: Helping
Imagine watching a heart as it beats. Or witnessing a brain aneurysm.
9 ACCESS ACM / Engaging Ideas
Over time, you forget their names.
The respiratory therapist who fit
you with a nasal cannula (breathing
tube) when you needed oxygen.
The RN who assured you that your
surgeon was talented. The medical
assistant who always remembered
your preference for morning
appointments. The LPN who
swaddled your newborn. You forget
their names, but you seldom forget
what you felt: trust.
What does it mean to say
thank you?
For two beloved doctors,
Dr. Thomas “Tom” Chappell and
Dr. Gwyn Harrison, it means joining
a host of others in gratitude.
In fall 2020, the couple established
the Drs. Thomas Chappell and
Gwyn Harrison Heath Care
Scholarship for Nursing, Respiratory
Therapist, and Medical Assisting.
On a November call from their
home in North Carolina, they
shared their reflections on giving
and their inspiration behind the
endowed scholarships.
“We want to make it easier
for healthcare professionals like
those we’ve known throughout
our careers to get their start,”
noted Dr. Chappell. “At times, we
wondered why we waited so long.”
“So many people we worked
with over the years trained or
taught at ACM, from medical
assistants who aided and organized
care at our offices to the nurses
in Labor and Delivery who became
like family to me personally. We
take it for granted the training
and education provided by ACM.
But I can’t tell you how many times
a nurse who trained at ACM
was there to save the day,” added
Dr. Harrison.
Dr. Harrison, who delivered
babies of thousands of local
residents for more than two
and a half decades, retired from
her Cumberland-based OB/GYN
ACM’s Allied Health students are
experiencing that and much more
– thanks to the purchase of an
Anatomage Table. The table is one
of three Allied Health purchases made
through a $100,000 Appalachian
Regional Commission grant.
A fully segmented real human 3D
anatomy system, the virtual dissection
table is equipped with educational tools
and lessons. It’s the kind of technology
commonly found in medical schools
and teaching hospitals. Like something
out of a sci fi film, it allows students
to explore body structures and systems
in 3D on virtual cadavers.
Enhanced human anatomy and
physiology training for thousands
of ACM students, sans formaldehyde.
That’s the innovative power
of grantmaking.