Friday, February 3, 2012

GRMC Annual Fund Drive Garners New Anesthesia Units

 
Deloris and Eugene Lang, Grinnell, consider the GRMC an important resource to the community. They wanted to show their support for the hospital so they contributed $10,000 to the purchase of anesthesia units.
 
The generosity of area residents and businesses moved Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s 2011 Annual Fund Drive to a record high as well as funded the goal for four new anesthesia units.
GRMC’s annual fund drive raised $378,166, the largest annual drive in the medical center’s history. A significant component of this drive was the request for $140,000 to fund new anesthesia units for the four GRMC surgery suites.
“Because so many people have had surgery or knew someone who has had a surgery, the anesthesia unit campaign appealed to our employees,” says Barb Baker, Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company advertising and community relations manager. “A core mission of Grinnell Mutual is to support the community. The medical center is an important entity in our community and we also need a strong hospital for our recruitment efforts. The surgery area is an important focus for a quality hospital and we want to support it.”
The Grinnell Mutual Foundation and Grinnell Mutual employees collaborated to raise more than $26,000 toward the $140,000 needed for the anesthesia units.
“This kind of campaign has a large appeal to many employees so our foundation provided an incentive to our employees to donate. Any one of us may need to use the surgical center and we want it to be there when needed,” Baker says.
For Eugene and Deloris Lang, they also wanted to ensure the medical center keeps improving and maintaining a strong program.
“Dr. Emge spoke at the Kiwanis meeting and explained the need for this equipment. So I went home and talked it over with Deloris. We consider the hospital a key community resource and want to keep it up,” says Eugene Lang.
Eugene Lang has lived and farmed in the area since 1933 and his connections with GRMC are plentiful. He and his wife of 60 years have used the medical center and had all three of their children at GRMC. They designated $10,000 to the anesthesia units.
 “We understand that new technology and new equipment is needed to stay current and offer the best in care so we wanted to support this particular campaign. We were impressed with Dr. Emge and why he came to Grinnell. We’re getting the right people to keep the medical center moving forward,” Lang says.
The medical center reached its goal through generous support, including a $35,000 community challenge offered by Grinnell College, Grinnell State Bank, and Laser Resources; grants from Alliant Energy, Lincoln Savings Bank, Monsanto Iowa Foundation, and Poweshiek County Alliance; the annual golf outing proceeds; and individual supporters.
“As representatives of our community, Foundation Board members were eager to sponsor and contribute to this essential effort to provide state of the art surgical equipment for GRMC,” says George Drake, GRMC Foundation Board chair. “We had excellent participation by our boards and medical staff for the anesthesia units as well as the annual fund.”
Total giving to GRMC in 2011, through memorials, annual fund, and special events, reached $684,536 from 1,687 donors. A reception to thank all donors will be held Feb. 1 at GRMC. Tours and a demonstration of the anesthesia units will be provided.
In addition to fund raising activities, GRMC also supported its operating budget through grants. GRMC received 13 grants bringing in $47,063.
“All these funding sources are important to support GRMC’s mission of providing quality care to all in need. Residents value having excellent healthcare services close to home and they have supported the medical center at a record level, even during the current economic times,” says Denise Lamphier, GRMC director of communications and development. “We want to thank the generosity of our donors for standing strong with GRMC to support excellent care.”
For additional information about GRMC’s annual fund or development program, contact Lamphier at 641-236-2589 or dlamphier@grmc.us.

No comments:

Post a Comment