Latest news with #PaulaBaker
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New president of Freeman to be introduced at council meeting
The new president and chief executive officer of Freeman Health Systems will be introduced to the community during a meeting Monday of the Joplin City Council. Matthew Fry has taken up the leadership position of Joplin's largest employer, succeeding Paula Baker, who retired. She led the health system for 14 years. Fry previously served as the CEO of St. John's Hospital and St. John's Children's Hospital in Springfield, Illinois, before taking the helm at Freeman in March. The council also will hold public hearings on several zoning requests. Those will be for a change from industrial to multifamily residential property at 1128 Pennsylvania Ave., a special-use permit to build duplexes at 3105 Wisconsin Ave., and a site plan review for the future Vita Nova Village small-home development at 1201 S. Byers Ave. The site plan, which involves reduced-sized easements between houses, was recommended for approval by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. The council also will take up business that had been planned for a meeting May 19 but was canceled because of a weather forecast for severe weather that night. One ordinance from that meeting reset for the upcoming meeting would allow bow hunting of deer on private property inside the Joplin city limits. According to the ordinance summary, the city does not currently have effective measures to control the urban deer population. A number of deer have been struck by vehicles on city streets, the city document states. That has brought about the ordinance that would allow archery hunting by permit and with specific conditions. While residents must abide by local and state requirements for weapons, in order to participate in urban deer hunting they must have state and city permits, abide by state hunting regulations and seasons, and carry written permission of the property owner where they will hunt. If a law enforcement officer asks to see the permit, the hunter must cooperate. Hunters must be at least 21 years old. The ordinance states that bow and arrows are not to be used within 60 feet of a house, building or structure or place where people assemble, a street, highway, park or property line. Bow hunters must shoot from an elevation of at least 10 feet from the ground. Arrows are not to be shot in the direction of a person, road, structure or domestic animal within reasonable range. Only a recurve archery bow or compound bow that requires completely manual operation without any means to cock the weapon and leave it in a stable state until it is released or fired using a trigger mechanism are authorized for use in the city limits. Hunters using a recurve archery bow or compound bow are required to take a Missouri Department of Conservation-approved hunter education course and are required to mark their arrows with their nine-digit Missouri Conservation Identification Number. The ordinance prohibits crossbow hunting. The council meeting starts at 6 p.m. on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St. It also is broadcast live on KGCS-TV, Channel 21, and regional cable television systems, including Sparklight in Joplin. The city also livestreams the meeting at Video-Multimedia.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
GMFS Remarkable Women of Freeman Health System!
We take submissions each year for women making a difference and impact in our community, and it is time to start showing them off! Today we highlighted the lovely Paula Baker, Freeman Health System President and CEO, and the work she has done! She has dedicated her life to helping those who take care of others. 'Really fulfilling the mission that I believe God gave to me', Mrs. Baker has spent decades helping and leading others. With Baker being the President and CEO of one of our areas' largest employer, she guides around 5,000 employees daily which is very impressive. Her mission is to make Freeman a place that patients are treated with kindness and care. To Paula, compassionate care is just as important as the medical care they recieve. Freeman Health System has been there for patients for decades, and she just wants help touch peoples lives no matter what they are going through. Baker has been through a lot of dark times working as Freeman's President and CEO, for example she lead the company during the devastating May 2011 Tornado. In 2020 when COVID hit hard, they she knew Freeman needed to be there and still provide for the community in troubling times. Baker is close to retirement, but looks forward to spending more time with her family which have been so supportive of her while being a true leader in healthcare and our community! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Remarkable Women: Paula Baker's legacy of compassionate health care
JOPLIN, Mo. — One area woman has dedicated decades of her life to helping provide excellent health care in the region. Paula Baker has dedicated her life to helping take care of others. 'Fulfilling the mission that I believe God gave to me,' said Baker. That mission has been decades of leading others in providing the best health care possible. 'I'm so proud of the Freeman team, there have been a lot of really amazing accomplishments.' As the CEO and President of the area's largest employer, Baker helps to guide more than five thousand employees daily. But it doesn't stop there. She's laser-focused on making sure Freeman's patients are treated with kindness and care. 'Patients come in, they're scared, they're nervous, their family members are scared and nervous. And the compassionate care that we are able to provide those patients and family members because it's just as much about how those people feel and how we treat them and the compassion that we are able to extend to them is just as important as the treatment they receive,' said Baker. This year the health system marks 100 years of offering health care to residents from all across the Four States. Baker says she's proud of how they've worked hard to offer the latest medical advances and technology. 'It's a sacred mission. We are entrusted with the health care of people, we are here for them on happy days when babies are born, we're here with them on the scary days when they are having a surgery or an illness, and we also help them as they pass from this life to the next. So we are very very honored to touch people in such intimate ways,' said Baker. The mission hasn't always been easy. 'There were a lot of very, very dark days.' Baker led her team through the incredibly difficult and tragic days after the May 2011 Joplin tornado. Some of their staff crawled through rubble to get to the hospital to help. 'Some of our caretakers didn't know if their own family members were safe when they came to the hospital.' And in 2020 when the COVID pandemic hit, Baker and her team made the decision to continue to offer full-service hospital care. 'We knew this was a time to be here for our local communities and provide that same level of care, and that was difficult because there were so many risk factors and so many unknowns. But I'm really proud of our team for being so courageous and stepping forward.' Baker is quick to credit the thousands of people who work daily at all of the Freeman locations. Freeman now offers 80 specialties, in 30 locations, across three states. And as she nears her retirement, Baker says she's looking forward to more time with her family. Her teenage son Austin is a regular visitor at her office. 'To raise a son who is responsible, successful, and kind and giving. To me that is one of my most important missions,' said Baker. Baker also says she's incredibly grateful to her husband of 45 years, Gene, for his support and the sacrifices her family has made to help support her mission to help others. 'I'm really appreciative of his patience, and his understanding, and his buy-in to the mission at Freeman as well.' Baker says she's proud of the legacy she's leaving and knows Freeman will continue to work daily to serve their patients with excellent care. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
