Photo: Thurlkill Studios

JANUARY 2018 | 9 {by karen werner} COVER STORY pregnant refugee, new to this country. A father and child in an accident on the I-10. A family searching for information about a new diagnosis. Maricopa Integrated Health System (MIHS) helps people in situations like these. A community resource that provides medical services to all, MIHS trains future health- care providers, performs cutting-edge research and provides a safety net for the otherwise underserved. For more than 140 years, its mission has been to serve the community and its most critical needs. “The newest refugees, the unemployed, the poor — they find out about us when they’re sick,” said Nita Francis, RN, MBA and newly elected board chair of Maricopa Health Foundation (MHF), the nonprofit that supports MIHS. Many longtime Valley residents refer to MIHS as “County” hospital, and over time a bit of a stigma became attached to the facility. However, those familiar with the care provided there, such as first responders, have always known how special MIHS is. Today, with expansion and growth, the old “County” has become something much more substantial. It’s all part of MIHS coming full circle, and why the foundation is energized and mobilizing for its future. “When the main campus was built, everybody was quite proud that the facility was there to take care of the community,” Francis said. In fact, the facility is so respected by first responders that police officers and firefighters familiar with the work happening there would sew “Take me to Maricopa” in their vests in case they were injured on the job. The Valley’s only public health-care system, MIHS includes Maricopa Medical TAKE ME TO MARICOPA MARICOPA INTEGRATED HEALTH SYSTEM AND MARICOPA HEALTH FOUNDATION WORK TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH