It was strictly by accident that Greenwood Leflore Hospital's new director of surgical services got into nursing.
Gloria Logan, who now has more than 30 years of nursing experience, said she was a "happy little housewife" until her husband was injured in a cotton warehouse in Memphis.
"I realized he had a high-risk job, and I didn't know what to do," she said.
At that point, she enrolled in the Memphis Area Technical Vocational School. She received her licensed practical nursing certificate in 1966 and went on to get her registered nurse diploma from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Memphis in 1974.
After her husband's death, Logan relocated her family to San Antonio, Texas. When her son and daughter graduated from college, she returned to college and earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Incarnate Word University in San Antonio in 1991. She is working toward her master's degree in nursing.
She comes to Greenwood Leflore Hospital from Capital Medical Center in DuPont, Wash., where she served as director of surgical services.
One of Logan's most interesting adventures came while she served in the U.S. Army in the late 1980s. She said she decided to join the military in order to give something back to her country.
"I was acquainted with people from other countries, and they all did something to give back to their countries," Logan said.
Americans have a chance to get a free education and have so many luxuries other countries don't have, but give nothing back, she said.
"So I decided to join. I marched right down there, and they accepted me," Logan said.
"This was a mid-life crisis move," she laughed.
But Logan enjoyed her time in the military. She had an opportunity to see the world, she said.
Logan committed to serve in the U.S. Army for three years, but she stayed for six. "I stayed on because I went from Germany to Italy," she said, which was something she wanted to do.
Logan started her military career as head nurse and assistant chief of the operating room and central material supply at a military hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany, from December 1991 until April 1993.
From there, she was deployed to Zagreb, Croatia, as part of the 212th MASH unit in support of Operation Provide Promise. She also helped set up the first hospital on the ground in Croatia.
While there, she cared for United Nations soldiers and briefed U.S. and international VIPs and dignitaries on hospital operations.
"In the beginning, nobody knew we had a hospital there. We got a lot of Russian soldiers and soldiers from other countries," Logan said.
She said there is no comparison between the field hospitals and a regular hospital. "In the hospital in the field, you have everything, but it is a different size. The anesthesia machine here is huge; there it is small. We also might operate on two people in the same room instead of one," Logan said.
Spending time in Croatia left a big impact on Logan.
"They always told us to walk on the pavement," she said. And one day, she found out why.
"I saw a man on a bulldozer hit a land mine. They both went straight up in the air," she said. But the man did live, Logan said.
There also were many cases of traumatic amputees, she said.
Logan said she was happy when Princess Diana started the crusade against land mines. "They can do a lot of damage. People should have more support and do more for that effort," she said.
Logan also served as head nurse and supervisor for the operating room and central material supply at Vicenza Health Center in Vicenza, Italy. She was stationed in Italy from June 1994 to November 1995.
During her last assignment in the military, Logan served as unit coordinator at Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis, Wash., from November 1995 to September 1997. There she managed a 16-room operating area, coordinated operating room preparations and oversaw 16 nurses and 32 technicians per shift.
But Logan's time in the operating room began long before her stint in the Army.
"I went into the operating room when I finished my LPN," she said.
Logan also has spent two years working in the pharmacy during her nursing career.
"I've got a lot of background to pull from in a lot of different places," she said. And from that, Logan said she believes she is able to make good decisions.
As director of surgical services at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Logan will have four different departments under her supervision - the operating room, the recovery unit, ambulatory surgery, some radiology nurses and the heart catheterization lab.
"I like this little hospital," Logan said. "And believe it or not, I've been lost here a couple of times."
Having been born in Memphis, Logan said she is glad to be back in the south.
"I wanted to live in a small town," she said. "The people here are friendly."
Logan already has noticed the revitalization projects downtown. "I'm happy to be here, and want to be a part of that," she said.
She also will serve as an Ambassador at the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce.
Logan's daughter and granddaughter are also living in Greenwood. She also has a grandson.
Logan has received the United Nations Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, three Army Commendation Medals and the Army Achievement Medal.
