‘Meet that need’: St. Luke’s Magic Valley team uses hospital parking lot to build beds for local kids

Dr. Bryan Mason is a board-certified family medicine physician, but on a recent fall evening, he was sanding boards in the parking lot of St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center.

In his first year as chief of staff in Twin Falls, Mason had invited the medical staff to build beds for local children in need.

“We’ve always done a barbecue every year, just a med staff get together, and (this year) decided we could do something else and give back to the community,” Mason said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to come out and mingle with some staff, get to know people and more importantly, to serve.”

Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a national nonprofit with a local chapter in Twin Falls. St. Luke’s has previously supported the Magic Valley organization through St. Luke’s Community Health Fund grants, which provide financial or in-kind support to nonprofit organizations that are also working to improve the health of people in the community.

“Our mission is that no kid sleeps on the floor in our town,” explained Tyler Bringhurst, chapter president. “Maybe they’re sleeping on the floor, maybe they’re sleeping with a parent, with a sibling, on the couch — we’re doing everything we can to make sure these children can get a bed of their own.”

While some of the clinicians were comfortable with their carpentry skills, others needed a refresher course. That wasn’t a problem as Sleep in Heavenly Peace brings all the supplies for each bed building event and walks volunteers through the process

“It’s been a long time,” laughed cardiologist Mark Crandall as he got a quick lesson on drilling headboards. “I did eighth grade wood shop back in junior high!”

No matter their level of building experience, members of St. Luke’s Magic Valley med staff showed up ready to work — after a full day of their clinical work — and completed 23 beds to be distributed to local children.

“I think it’s great to be able to contribute to the community in any way that we can,” said Dr. Trevor Satterfield. “If there’s a need, what a great way to bring a bunch of people together and help meet that need.”