The leadership of Providence Memorial Hospital hosted a pre-deployment Barbeque for the soldiers and families of the 31st Combat Support Hospital on Fort Bliss. The unit is due to deploy in a few days to remote parts of Afghanistan on a yearlong tour. The unit is made up of Military men and women in various medical specialties. Their mission will be to receive and care for U.S. and coalition soldiers directly from the battlefield in a hospital made out of assembled collapsible modules.

The relationship with the 31st began with an invitation to John Harris, the President and CEO of Sierra Providence health Network (SPHN) from LTC Darrin Cox, who is a surgeon and one of the commanders in the 31st. The invitation was to come out and visit a training exercise at one of the field hospitals on Fort Bliss. From this experience a profound sense of respect and admiration grew for these medical specialty soldiers who provide care to our wounded soldiers on the battlefield under the harshest of conditions and who often find themselves under fire as well. From the common bond of medicine along with respect and admiration came the unofficial adoption of the 31st Combat Support Hospital by Sierra Providence Health Network (SPHN). It was SPHN's privilege to provide these outstanding medical specialty soldiers in the service of our country with a lunch, a thank you and a promise of friendship.