There’s no real way to quantify the impact that Karen Meadows has had in her community. How can you accurately measure a life spent meeting the needs of others? It’s safe to say that it is a lot.
Meadows, who was born at the then Pleasant Valley Hospital in 1970, has spent her entire adult life working for what is now Rivers Health. Meadows, wife to Steve and mother of Lexi, graduated from Point Pleasant High School and then from St. Mary’s School of Nursing before going to work at her local hospital, now Rivers Health.
A small portion of the favor was returned a few years ago when Meadows was awarded the Hartley Scholarship by the Rivers Health Scholarship Foundation to complete her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ohio University. The Hartley Scholarship is given annually to students in the medical field and was created to help encourage students in the Point Pleasant area to return home to work in healthcare.
“It was an honor to get it,” Meadows said. “The Hartleys are a great family, and it was nice to be recognized. We need people to stay here and work. We need people to stay and care.”
Meadows can say that because she is the epitome of staying and caring. She began her career on the surgical floor and spent time in the operating room and recovery. Now she is the director of quality and risk management.
In short, she’s making sure everyone is taken care of, including the hospital.
“My main goal is to keep our patients and our staff safe while producing the best outcomes,” she said. “Making sure of patient safety is my first priority, and I make sure that we meet all regulatory guidelines.”
Though her job today is more administrative than where she began, Meadows has always stayed on a track that had her taking care of people who couldn’t take care of themselves.
“I developed a real love for surgery patients,” she said. “When they came back, they needed help, and then as days past you could see them getting better. In the OR I spent a lot of time in recovery and that was very enlightening because patients needed you the most in that area because they were asleep. It was a really gratifying job.”
As her daughter, who was also born at the hospital, grew and became more active in sports and community projects, Meadows became more involved in case management because it allowed for a more set schedule. But it was still fighting for and taking care of patients’ direct needs. This is where it became increasingly evident that Meadows was driven by the desire to help those who struggled to help themselves.
She found herself fighting insurance battles and trying to help patients get whatever they needed to get their bills paid and meet their needs. It’s all been a learning process that has gone hand-in-hand with the desire to help people.
“I do feel pressure,” she said. “It’s a stressful job, but it’s very gratifying. I’ve worked here all my life (32 years), and I take our success personally. This is my home, and I want to make sure we succeed. I want us to have as good of outcomes as we can. Every day here you make a difference, even if it’s small.”
Meadows said she’s been surrounded by great teams at Rivers Health, but she volunteers outside of the hospital as well to help her community in whatever ways she can.
“You see how you can help, and it just makes you want to do more,” she said.
Meadows has offered some words of wisdom for others who are looking to stoke a desire to help and give back to their community.
“Step outside the box,” she said. “Do one small thing and move on from there. Even the smallest things, don’t ever worry if they are big enough. Every little bit counts.”
It adds up to a lot.
