House Concurrent Resolution 58

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO NURSING AND HEALTH CARE OF DR. GERRY CADENHEAD FLETCHER.

WHEREAS, leadership was consistently evident throughout Dr. Fletcher's career of over 50 years devoted to the nursing profession, most evident in her roles as Associate Dean and Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi where she was instrumental in returning the School of Nursing to a College of Nursing status; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Fletcher joined Southern Mississippi in 1980 as a professor and the chair of the nursing program, and from 1983 to 1988, she continued to teach and educate hundreds of registered nurses who went on to provide excellent nursing care to the citizens of this state, and she also served as Interim Director of the School of Nursing before she was named Dean of the College of Nursing in 1997; and

WHEREAS, under her leadership at Southern Mississippi's College of Nursing, she was Co-project Director of a Health and Human Services grant, a Multi-disciplinary Laboratory Approach to Gerontology Training, and she served on numerous committees of the deans and directors of schools of nursing in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, following her retirement from USM, Dr. Fletcher served on the Nursing Advisory Committee and led the fundraising efforts for the new state-of-the-art Asbury Hall that is being built on the western edge of the University's Hattiesburg Campus, with a gift contribution upon her death providing naming rights to the Dean's Suite in Asbury Hall, and she was always a strong supporter of Southern Miss athletic programs; and

WHEREAS, as Assistant Administrator at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Mississippi, Dr. Fletcher was the project director for a Robert Wood Johnson planning grant, Strengthening Hospital Nursing, and led the hospital restructuring initiative, and she was also the coordinator of the hospital's Continuous Quality Enhancement Project; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Fletcher's support for her professional organization was demonstrated by her active participation on district and state levels of the Mississippi Nurses Association, including serving as Director of the Council for Health Affairs for two terms, as a delegate to two American Nurses Association's national conventions, and as an officer in the District 7 association, and Dr. Fletcher provided outstanding leadership in the development of the Mississippi Nurses Association's Political Action Committee; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Fletcher was posthumously inducted into the Mississippi Nurses Association's Hall of Fame on March 3, 2014, the association's highest honor in nursing leadership; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to commend the lives and legacies of such notable Mississippians as Dr. Fletcher:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the life and public service of Dr. Gerry Cadenhead Fletcher who died on July 22, 2013, and extend deepest sympathy to her family and friends upon her passing.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to her husband, Dr. Tyler Fletcher, Dr. Katherine Nugent, Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi, the Mississippi Nurses Association and to members of the Capitol Press Corps.