Local healthcare company feeds first responders - East Idaho News
Idaho Falls

Local healthcare company feeds first responders

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IDAHO FALLS — A local healthcare company decided to honor emergency and first responders Wednesday by offering them a free drive-thru breakfast.

“This is thanks for our first responders for our community,” said Tiffany Morrison with Encompass Health. “We just wanted to tell them ‘thank you’ for taking care of everybody.”

Encompass Health, which operates a network of home health services and hospice, served the breakfast of biscuits and gravy, fruit, and coffee at their location on Washington Drive. Morrison says in the three hours they were open, 20 members of local law enforcement from multiple agencies stopped by.

“They complemented my homemade gravy,” Morrison said. “We were able even to visit and have some social distanced talking.”

With the Idaho Falls Fire Department responding to calls all morning, Morrison and nurses serving the breakfast stopped by several stations around town with boxed up meals.

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Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office Deputies eating biscuits and gravy from a drive through breakfast provided by encompass health Wednesday morning. | Courtesy Tiffany Morrison, Encompass Health

“They are super important to us, they’re the ones that answer our calls when we need help,” Morrison said.

With COVID-19 putting pressure on first responders and healthcare workers alike, Morrison described missing having the human connection between medical professionals and first responders. Wearing masks hides the smiles, she said.

“That human connection feels like its kind of grey now,” Morrison said. “Being able to make them breakfast and hand them hot food kind of brought that human connection back to our professions.”

Idaho Falls Fire Department spokeswoman Kerry Hammon also said local firefighters miss visiting with the community. Typically the department host public relations events and fire station tours to show those what they do daily. But since the pandemic began those activities have stopped.

“We are very thankful to have an incredibly supportive community,” Hammon said. “A special thank you to Encompass Health for the breakfast they provided us this morning. We consider it an honor to serve this community.”

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