by Jennifer Kowalewski
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the
college will remember two of its own on the one-year anniversary
of
their tragic death during the crash of Corporate Airlines
Flight #5966.
Bridget Wagner, D.O. (’94),
assistant dean for the
college’s Northeast Ohio Centers for Osteopathic Research and
Education (CORE), and Kathleen Gebard, CORE administrator
for the Southwest CORE, were en route to the “Humanism in
Healthcare” conference at Kirksville College of Osteopathic
Medicine (KCOM) of A. T. Still University of Health Sciences, sponsored by Arnold P. Gold Foundation, when
the airliner in which they were passengers crashed on final
approach in Kirksville, Mo.
OU-COM will hold a wreath
laying ceremony at noon in front of Grosvenor Hall. Dean Jack
Brose, D.O., will speak during the brief ceremony. All are
invited.
“Both Kathy and Bridget were
absolutely dedicated to our students,” said Brose. “Both acted
as teachers, friends and, also, mothers to our students. They
were sincerely loved by our students and our staff.
“Both were spectacular mothers
who were absolutely dedicated to their families. Both were
concerned about their fellow human beings and participated in
many projects to help people who were less fortunate.”
KCOM will dedicate the day in
honor of the 13 crash victims, while honoring the
survivors,
John Krogh, Ph.D., KCOM administrative regional supervisor for
the Utah region, and his assistant, Wendy Bonham, KCOM
coordinator for the Utah region.
The ceremony at Kirksville
begins at 9 a.m., with a speech by Krogh, said Joe Vincent,
office of university relations in Kirksville.
“Dr. Krogh will talk about how
he survived, being thrown from the plane and crawling away from
the wreckage with a broken hip,” Vincent said. “He has quite a
story to tell. He also will talk about the day that was
planned.”
With Krogh’s address, KCOM
hopes to revive the meaning of the original conference, while
moving forward with a seminar planned today, “Footprints,”
through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The seminar will focus on care
for the dying, bringing compassion and humanism for patients,
whose conditions are beyond help by medical science, and their
families. In the afternoon, medical students of KCOM, along with
faculty, will complete community service tasks including
delivering food with the Meals-on-Wheels program and visiting
nursing homes.
“The idea is to show the human
side of medicine,” Vincent said. “Only half of medicine is the
technical part. The other half is the human side.”
OU-COM still feels the lost of
Wagner and Gebard.
Wagner was a 1994 graduate of
the college and joined the university in 2001. As a CORE
assistant dean, she served as the academic officer for medical
students in their third and fourth years. In addition, she also
was the liaison for the CORE system and its affiliated hospitals
and colleges of osteopathic medicine.
Gebard joined Ohio University
in 1989 and as a CORE administrator in the Dayton area, she
provided advising and guidance for medical students in their
third and fourth years, monitored their progress and coordinated
medical training opportunities.
The Council of Osteopathic
Student Government Presidents will hold a day-long “Compassion
Celebration” at Kirksville in remembrance of the victims and to
honor the survivors. And KCOM plans to name one room of the
to-be-constructed ITC Building in honor of those killed in the
crash.
All of these events will help
remember those who perished, while keeping their memory and
mission alive.
- 30 -
News for
the week of Oct
17 –
Oct 22
