Cooke County — Long-time Gainesville resident Gloria Parrish recently became chairman of the board of the Gainesville Hospital District/ North Texas Medical Center where she has served since 2008.

“As chairman of the board I want to work closely with the CEO, fellow board members and medical staff in the recruitment of physicians to our area and look forward to the growth of health care in our community,” Parrish said.

Recruitment of physicians for NTMC is a priority right now because the hospital needs some specialty areas, she continued.

“It’s a slow process but we’re encouraged,” she said. “At the last board meeting we authorized the CEO along with the blessings of the medical staff to recruit five new physicians — general surgeon, pediatrician, ENT (ear, nose and throat), cardiologist and an internist.”

The challenge in recruiting is to bring physicians to a smaller community such as Gainesville.

“Rural health care is a challenge...You would think they would want to get out of the rat-race, but recruitment is a challenge right now,” she continued. “If we can get that done, then we can continue to see health care continue grow in our area. But you do have to have some specialties for the growth to come.”

Parrish said she was introduced to health care while working with two doctors for 11 years and then following her husband’s stroke.

“Bill had a stroke and we were down at the hospitals a lot during the three-and-a-half years that he lived after his stroke,” she noted. “So, we saw a lot of the hospitals and physical therapy and all that.”

Parrish said she welcomes having doctors serve on the hospital board.

“We went through a period where there weren’t any on there,” she noted, “but, it’s not a new thing. Several years ago we had doctors on there for the biggest part of the time actually, at least one or two. You know, the board needs the medical expertise in a lot of areas, so I think it’s a positive thing.”

She said she is proud of the excellent staff of employees at NTMC who provide outstanding service to the patients and the community.

Volunteering in the community is a big deal to Parrish, and she is involved with Abigail’s Arms, Home Hospice, NTMC Auxiliary and the Soroptimist Club.

“After I retired I just had extra time on my hands and wanted to give back to the community,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed that.”

She said the feeling that comes from being of service to people is very important to her.

One of the projects of the NTMC Auxiliary is the Baby Cap Project. The volunteers make sure that every baby born leaves the hospital with a little hand-made hat. Another project is to make a little hand-made animal for every child-patient. The volunteers get together to cut out the patterns and then take the materials home to complete the project for the children.

Being born and raised in Gainesville, Parrish graduated from Gainesville High School (Newsom Daugherty Memorial High School at the time) and followed that up with graduation from Cooke County College (now North Central Texas College). She then went to work with Dr. William Powell and Dr. R. L. McLeory of Whidden Memorial Clinic for 11 years.

Parrish then took the position of assistant county school superintendent at the Cooke County Courthouse for eight years and then became the Cooke County auditor for 28 years.

She and her husband Bill were married for 30 years and met “on the drag” when he was employed at Perrin Air Force Base in Sherman.

“The drag ran from the Leonard Park out to the Y, out there where there used to be a drive-in, where the Taiwan restaurant is now,” she noted. “That was back in my day. You just rode up and down the drag and talked to all your friends...you’d stop and have a coke and everyone would visit.”

For hobbies she loves to crochet and knit sweaters, afghans and vests. She is also talented at needle crafts.

“I have to keep my hands busy when I’m sitting down,” she said.

Visiting family and friends are also very important to Parrish.

As far as her favorite spots, New York City tops the list. She loves the snow in NYC, the shopping and the heritage of the city. She also enjoyed her trip to Europe in 1989, especially London and Switzerland and has also traveled a lot in the United States.

But Parrish calls Gainesville home and she has no plans to leave because she said, “she likes it here.”