It’s July 23, 2022, and I am arriving in Downtown Reno to walk in my first-ever Pride Parade. Even more amazing, I am going to be walking with a group of my coworkers, announcing to our entire community that our employer supports us being our full and truest selves.
I arrived alone, but in the staging area I met new people who worked in other departments of Renown, coworkers I might never have met if not for Pride. I even took a selfie with one of these new friends. Someone passed around flags for us to hand out to the audience as we marched by. I took a rainbow-striped temporary tattoo in the shape of the Renown “R” and used my water bottle to apply it. There was an overwhelming atmosphere of excitement and joy that can only come from gathering with other human beings who are overflowing with love.
We started the Parade waving handfuls of Pride flags high and gave those flags out to the audience as we passed. By the time we were done walking, our hands were empty, but our hearts were full. I couldn’t have stopped smiling if I’d tried. I’d joined the parade as a single person, but as we walked, I became part of a community. Not only the Renown community, but a community of Proud queer people across northern Nevada. And by extension, the LGBTQIA+ community all around the world – past, present and future.
With the multiple recent state laws proposing to strip away the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, many of us have felt a noticeable decline in our mental health and feelings of personal safety.
As a member of the queer community, I have felt these mental health effects too. I am fortunate and privileged enough to not have experienced workplace discrimination in my current position. But before Renown, I – like so many others in the LGBTQIA+ community – had a negative experience at a previous job, and afterwards I was hesitant to share my full self while at work. To be able to walk in a Pride Parade with my current employer, healed a little bit of that past pain inflicted by my former employer.
When our liberties are under attack, Pride is more important than ever. We must remind ourselves, especially when others cannot seem to remember, that we are loved and worthy of love. I am grateful to work for an organization that is willing and able to fight this good fight with us.
I will certainly be back to walk in this year’s Pride Parade, and I sincerely hope to see you there too! Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes, sunglasses and of course keep your skin safe with sunscreen. Whether you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, or just an ally, you are welcome.
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Kick off the new year – and National Blood Donor Month – with the Blood Bank team at Renown Health!
Think about the common word “lifeblood.” Many use the word to describe something essential that sustains something else, and without it, that thing cannot survive or exist. Now, why does “blood” come into play with this word? Well, blood itself is an essential part of our bodies that sustains our lives – and like you could probably assume, without it, we could not survive.
This especially comes into play in the healthcare environment. When a patient needs blood, they need it quickly, especially when emergencies rush into northern Nevada’s only level II trauma center, right here at Renown Regional Medical Center. And they don’t only need blood; they need the right type, administered in the right way, at the right time.
That’s precisely where the Blood Bank team at Renown Regional Medical Center comes into play. As a key part of the Transfusion Services department, the Blood Bank manages blood inventories for all 650 beds of the hospital and serves as an essential partner to clinical teams throughout our health system.
A Heart for Healing: New Lifesaving Support at Renown
Before she cared for others, Ella spent much of her childhood in and out of hospitals in California as a patient, navigating severe eczema and moderate scoliosis.
