We are pleased to announce Maggie Thorness from the NICU was selected as CMC's 2023 Mercy Award winner! 

Maggie is without a doubt the kindest, most giving human. She is the embodiment of our mission of making communities healthier®. Maggie glows with warmth and acceptance. In the NICU she always begins with "It SO good to see you! I am SO happy you are here today!"– followed immediately by a warm hug and then a "Is there anything I can do for you today?" She greets every single person she encounters this way. From a fellow nurse, provider, housekeeper, patient parent, random visitor lost in the hallway – she makes everyone feel special, loved and cared for.

Maggie's capacity to take compassionate action is also seen in her role as a foster parent and adoptive parent to special needs infants. Five years ago, Maggie and her husband decided they had room in their hearts to foster babies with medical needs in addition to their four children. Two days after they completed their requirements for foster care, they received their first phone call about a baby who needed Maggie's specialized care. Maggie continues to foster babies with medical issues both short and long term.

Maggie's caring extends to her community as well, where she participates in local 4-H, her church, and the Montana National Guard Medical Detachment. When Maggie was deployed to Iraq as a medic, her work brought her in contact with a village where she saw a child who needed a wheelchair. Maggie mobilized her home team, who coordinated with Eleanor's Project. The child size appropriate wheelchair was then packaged and shipped. She also volunteers to provide respite care for patients in need and has created a clothing closet for our tiniest patients. During the holidays she stages photo shoots of hospitalized babies, so that each baby can "give" a framed photo to their parents when they are in the hospital on Christmas Day.

"I've heard many people over the years call Maggie 'an angel' and she truly is." - Dr. Bonnie Stephens

Maggie is Community Medical Center's nominee for the Lifepoint Mercy Award. The top 15 people will be flown to Nashville for a an awards ceremony with 1 nominee receiving the top honor.