MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Straughter, Perkins

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING MRS. CLARA TAYLOR REED, REGISTERED NURSE AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF MID-DELTA HOME HEALTH, FOR HER LEADERSHIP AS A BLACK BUSINESSWOMAN. 

WHEREAS, Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed was born in Isola, Mississippi, to Reverend N. C. Taylor and Mrs. Ethel Lee Taylor, parents who nurtured Mrs. Reed in a positive environment and taught her the moral values and work ethics that were responsible for her ability to overcome the obstacles along the path leading to Mrs. Reed's business success; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed graduated from McNair High School in 1960, and from there went on to further her education at Mississippi Valley State University, graduating in 1963 from their Licensed Practical Nurses Program, and later she entered Valley's Registered Nurses Program, and graduated in 1970 with an associate degree in nursing, and in 1990, Mrs. Reed received her Bachelor of Arts in Gerontology from Valley; and

WHEREAS, when Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed opened the doors to her home health agency in 1978 in the small town of Belzoni, Mississippi, she had no idea how instrumental she would become in meeting the health care needs of the Mississippi Delta; and

WHEREAS, through hard work and dedication to providing the highest quality of health care possible to her patients, Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed and Mid-Delta Home Health were able to earn the highest accreditation standards of any home health agency in the State of Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, Mid-Delta Home Health became the first and only home health agency in the State of Mississippi to become dually accredited from both the Community Health Accreditation Program, Incorporated (CHAP), which is a New York City-based Community Health Accreditation Program that sets the highest standards of quality for home health organizations in the nation, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), from which Mid-Delta received Accreditation with Commendation, the highest level of accreditation awarded by the Joint Commission, which is the nation's oldest and largest accrediting body; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed says her most rewarding experience is the fact that she began Mid-Delta Home Health eighteen years ago with five employees and now has a staff of nearly seven hundred fifty dedicated professionals, with sixteen offices in twenty-two Mississippi counties, offering a wide range of health care services; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed is the wife of former Sunflower County school teacher and Humphreys County Supervisor, Henry Reed, of Belzoni, Mississippi, who is a local farmer and the Vice President of Physical Facilities at Mid-Delta Home Health, and they together have two children, Mrs. Pamela A. Redd and Mr. Henry Reed III, and one granddaughter, Danielle Redd; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to commend excellence, especially when it is exhibited by one of its native African-American citizens and business leaders:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed for striving to become a successful Black businesswoman and thereby serving as a truly noteworthy role model for future generations of Mississippians.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mrs. Clara Taylor Reed and the members of the Capitol Press Corps.