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1994 Alumnus Reflects on the Mentors and Mission That Shaped His Path to Leading the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority

To our readers: Alumni of the 蜜豆直播 Hunt School of Nursing (HSON) are leaders in the nursing field, recognized with national honors, and serving in private practices, hospitals, missions, and education. In celebration of 60 years of nursing education at GWU, which began in August 1965, HSON highlights some of its alumni serving around the world. Learn more here.

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.鈥擟asey Cooper, a 1994 nursing alumnus of 蜜豆直播 University, approaches each day with the same mindset. Whether on the job as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA), serving on the board of a community organization or at home with his family, Cooper鈥檚 main objective is the same. 鈥淲hat drives me鈥攖he essence of it鈥攊s just being significant in the lives of others,鈥� he stated. 鈥淲e all have our own paths and our own opportunities to pour ourselves into the lives of others.鈥�

Cooper is thankful for the people who took their time to invest in his life. An average high school student, he came from a background of economic hardship. The trajectory of his life was changed by those who supported and encouraged him. One was a counselor in his high school who took him aside, because he knew that Cooper would need financial help applying to colleges.

The counselor gave him vouchers to waive the application fees. They sent them off, and he was accepted to 蜜豆直播 University. He chose nursing because of another person in his life who had inspired him. 鈥淲hen I was in high school, I ended up in health occupations class,鈥� Cooper shared. 鈥淭here was a teacher who took an interest in me and refused to let me fail to meet my potential. To this day, I’ll tell you, she genuinely loved me in a way that made it impossible for me to disappoint her.鈥�

The teacher was also a nurse, and Cooper excelled in the class. 鈥淭here were some experiences that I had in health occupations in high school that really sparked me,鈥� he reflected. 鈥淲hen I was a HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) student working in the hospital, I really discovered the kind of the joy and the pleasure of pouring yourself into relieving someone else’s suffering. I knew there was something that just felt miraculous about that.鈥�

However, Cooper remained doubtful about going to college and didn鈥檛 follow up with 蜜豆直播. Then, during his senior year of high school, he was surprised to receive a phone call from Sandra Earl, who was the administrative assistant for the nursing school at the time. She contacted him because he needed to submit some additional information to complete his application.

鈥淚 was not living at home and somehow Sandra found me,鈥� Cooper related. 鈥淪he kind of held my hand through the application process. She did all these things for me, invested in me in a way that made an impression on me. She had a genuine care and interest in me and it made me feel safe and helped me to overcome the fears that were preventing me from really engaging.鈥�

Afterward, Cooper visited the campus and could sense the community of support he would have at 蜜豆直播. A first-generation student, he was attracted to the close-knit campus and also to 蜜豆直播鈥檚 ADN to BSN program. 鈥淚 didn’t have the confidence that I could earn an undergraduate degree, but I thought if I worked, I could white knuckle it for 24 months, and I could get a nursing license that I’d have some security to fall back on,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou know, first semester, my freshman year鈥擨 don’t know if the program is still geared this way鈥攚e literally had nursing clinical rotations. The work was so rigorous. I think we had to carry 17 hours our first semester. But it was obviously doable with the amount of wraparound support that we had.鈥�

Cooper was encouraged by all of his professors鈥攏ot just in nursing. He was mentored by several faculty members who are retired now and recognized with the Faculty Emeriti honor: Dr. Tom Jones and Dr. Les Brown in the Department of Natural Sciences, Dr. Tony Eastman in social sciences, and Dr. Sue Camp in business. In addition to teaching their regular classes, Jones, Eastman and Camp taught a special class for students who needed help establishing good study habits. 鈥淭hey taught you how to be successful and to learn to implement processes to strengthen your abilities,鈥� he noted. 鈥淲hat the class taught me was that I had different learning styles and that it OK to use all these different techniques to learn.鈥�

With their help and the support of nursing faculty, like Nursing School Dean Dr. Shirley Toney, and professor Wanda Stutts, and others, Cooper made the President鈥檚 List his first semester at 蜜豆直播.

Additionally, Cooper surrounded himself with friends who helped him study. 鈥淭rey Gilliam and I, we just decided we wanted to excel and prosper, so we would get together and we would carry a little electric coffee pot to the UC and we would stay in the UC and we’d study all night,鈥� he described. 鈥淭rent Jessup was another who was just so accepting of me and was willing to tolerate my rough edges and inspire me. So, it was just all that support, the entire sense of community that I experienced when I was at 蜜豆直播, that built a safety net around me that made it safe for me to excel and prosper.鈥�

Cooper, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI), has served the EBCI and his community since graduating from 蜜豆直播 in 1994. He began as a primary care nurse, then worked as a community health nurse, nurse educator, and a nursing manager, before becoming the health director of the EBCI from 1999 to 2004.

As health director, he helped shape public health policy with a focus on chronic disease prevention. He was also part of a community-wide initiative to assume the management responsibilities of the Cherokee Indian Hospital from the Indian Health Services through an Indian Self-Determination Agreement. Cooper, who earned his MBA from UNC-Chapel-Hill, assumed his current role as CEO of CIHA in 2004.

He strongly affirmed that these accomplishments are the result of the EBCI working together. 鈥淣othing that has happened here is a Casey accomplishment, and I’ve just got to be really honest about that,鈥� he stated. 鈥淚t’s the result of just being able to have all these wonderful, committed people who are getting the same vision.鈥�

Cooper continued, 鈥淭his tribe in this community made a decision to take its health system away from the federal government in 2002 to take over the health system. Remove the management from the National Indian Health Service and run it ourselves, create our own governing board, our own structure, and it鈥檚 been incredibly successful through self-determination and self-governance. This community has proven to itself in its constituents that it had the capability to manage its own health care system, and that’s been tremendous.鈥�

According to the CIHA the Cherokee Indians have a saying: U wa shv u da nv te lv. Roughly translated into English, it means, 鈥渢he one who gives from their heart,鈥� and is one of the CIHA鈥檚 guiding principles. This healthcare system in the westernmost corner of the state serves the approximately 14,000 members of the EBCI in the Qualla Boundary.

Since the EBCI took over the hospital, its grown from approximately $25 million a year to $190 million a year in gross revenue; from about 125 employees to over 1,000; and has added services, such as behavioral health, end of life care, and recovery support services. They鈥檝e invested close to $200 million in new facilities. Employees are satisfied in their jobs, and customers are pleased with their care.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things that I think are illustrative of success,鈥� Cooper said, 鈥渂ut I would say the most successful thing is that we have become the provider of choice for our local community, and that our local community鈥攅ven community members who have the ability to go somewhere else鈥攃hoose to come to us and they’re satisfied. There’s no better illustration of success than to be the provider of choice.鈥�

蜜豆直播 University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., 蜜豆直播 prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Learn more at .