Surgical Care Close to Home: Emma Morrison and Girard Medical Center’s Surgery Team
Launch the media gallery 1 playerThe Surgery Department – Girard Medical Center
At Girard Medical Center, exceptional healthcare is delivered by people who understand the community because they are part of it. Through Our Roots. Our People, an initiative of GMC’s Rooted in Rural campaign, highlights the departments and caregivers whose dedication helps keep quality healthcare close to home.
This month, the spotlight shines on the Surgery Department, represented by Emma Morrison, OR RN, BSN. With lifelong connections to Southeast Kansas and several years of service at Girard Medical Center, Emma embodies the hometown compassion, flexibility, and teamwork that define rural healthcare.
Emma’s journey at GMC began when she worked as a patient care technician on the inpatient floor and in the Emergency Department for three years. After becoming a registered nurse, she returned to GMC as a PRN nurse for approximately a year before joining the hospital full time. She has now served as a full-time RN for about three years.
Although Emma has lived in several nearby communities, Southeast Kansas has always been home.
“I’d say I’m from Southeast Kansas in general,” Emma said. “I lived in Pittsburg, went to school in Frontenac and always worked in Girard. Now, I live in Girard with my family.”
Today, Emma works in GMC’s Surgery Department, where patients have access to a much broader range of services than they may realize. In addition to surgical procedures, the department provides screening scopes, infusions, injections and other important services for patients throughout the area.
“I think our department offers a lot to the community, whether it’s standard screening scopes, larger surgeries, infusions or injections,” Emma explained. “We have much more to offer than just surgery. It’s nice to keep patients close to home and provide so many services, even though we are in a rural community.”
Because the department offers such a variety of care, no two days are exactly alike for Emma. On any given day, she may prepare a patient for surgery, assist with an IV, begin an infusion, make a preoperative phone call or scrub in for a surgical procedure.
“I try to help wherever I’m needed,” she said.
That willingness to step in reflects the spirit of teamwork found throughout the Surgery Department. Emma says the department has grown by welcoming additional full-time and PRN employees, creating a strong team united by a shared commitment to patient care.
“I enjoy everyone I work with,” Emma said. “We have such a good team. We’ve added several full-time employees and PRN positions, and we really have a solid team. I love everyone I work with.”
Her personal motto—“Teamwork makes the dream work”—is not simply a favorite saying. It describes the collaborative approach she and her coworkers bring to the department each day. Every team member plays an important role in helping patients feel safe, comfortable, and cared for throughout their experience.
For Emma, one of the greatest benefits of receiving care at Girard Medical Center is the personal connection patients find here. Many members of the Surgery Department grew up in the area, currently live here, or have family roots in the surrounding communities. Those shared connections help the team understand the people they serve and provide care tailored to each patient.
“We have a hometown feel,” Emma said. “Many of us are from this area, live here now or have roots here. I think that allows us to connect with our patients and understand their needs better.”
Emma believes individualized care is especially important because every patient arrives with different concerns, circumstances and needs.
“We take pride in our care, and we treat each patient individually,” she said. “Every person is different—that’s what makes them so great—so their care needs to be individualized, too.”
Serving the community is personal for Emma. Both her family and her husband Kolby’s family have lived in the area for generations, making the familiar phrase “everyone knows everyone around here” especially true. Those longstanding relationships make it easy to find common interests and connections with the patients and families she meets.
Emma has also experienced GMC’s care from the perspective of a patient and family member. She and members of her family choose Girard Medical Center for their own healthcare needs, giving her a firsthand understanding of the difference a rural hospital can make.
“To me, serving a rural community means providing personalized, compassionate and exceptional care,” Emma said. “Many of my family members—and I, myself—come to GMC for care. I’ve seen the impact that care has had on my family. A larger institution can’t always provide that same amount of time and personal attention.”
While there is not one particular moment that defines why Emma is proud to work at Girard Medical Center, she finds meaning in the work every day.
“I feel proud to work here every day,” she said. “I’m proud to serve the community and provide hometown care to my hometown.”
Emma’s career choice also comes with a surprising twist. Although she now loves working in the operating room, that outcome once seemed unlikely.
“I almost passed out during my surgery rotation in nursing school,” she laughed. “Now, I work in the OR, and I love what I do so much.”
Outside of work, Emma enjoys spending time with Kolby and their four-year-old daughter, Mila, as well as their extended family and friends. With family members living within about 10 minutes of their home, they are grateful to remain close and involved in one another’s lives.
When it comes to choosing a favorite local destination, Mila would quickly vote for Pete’s and its donuts and chocolate milk. For Emma, however, a favorite local tradition is gathering the family for breakfast at Eastside.
That closeness—to family, friends, coworkers and community—is what makes Emma’s work at Girard Medical Center especially meaningful. She is caring for the same people she sees in her daily life: longtime neighbors, familiar families and fellow community members.
Through a wide range of surgical and outpatient services, GMC’s Surgery Department helps patients receive quality care without leaving the community they call home. With caregivers like Emma Morrison, patients can count on individualized attention from a team that understands their needs, values their trust and takes pride in serving them.
It is another example of how Girard Medical Center remains Rooted in Rural—providing exceptional healthcare through people who live, work, and care for the communities they proudly call home.
Learn More about our Surgery Services Here!