Fundraiser provides for healthcare needs
Megan Strickland
Entertainer Gordy Pratt performs at the St. Luke Community Hospital Foundation fundraiser.
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
RONAN – Officials for St. Luke Community Hospital said Friday that federal regulations are constricting the abilities of small community medical facilities to provide adequate care for rural residents, making it increasingly important for outside financial contributions like those that poured in at Friday’s fundraising dinner.
The 14th annual St. Luke Community Healthcare Foundation Fundraiser brought in monies that will be used to help bring healthcare to those with limited resources.
“The mission of the St. Luke Foundation is to support St. Luke and its clinics so they can be the best they can be, even as Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are decreasing,” Foundation President Robin Nelson said.
The foundation has helped purchase equipment, provided mammograms for the underinsured, and a number of other functions.
Hospital CEO Steve Todd relayed the story of a woman who recently called the hospital to tell how the foundation’s mammogram program saved her life.
The woman was underinsured and qualified for a voucher to receive a free mammogram paid for by foundation funds.
The mammogram came back fine, but the technician was insistent about follow-up care and instilled in the woman that it was critically important to be reexamined in a year. A year later the woman had insurance and went to get a follow-up. She was diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer that was successfully removed via surgery.
The woman told Todd she never would have gone for the follow-up if she hadn’t had the chance to talk with the outstanding radiologist a year earlier.
Stories like this are an example of how the hospital’s 419-person staff is dedicated to going above and beyond with what resources are available, Todd said.
“Unfortunately now more than ever, community-owned healthcare institutions are at increasing risk,” Todd said. “The healthcare safety net that rural hospitals provide is fragile and of little concern to the increasing corporate and urban interests that have influence in our federal government.”
Unfunded mandates and bureaucracy are weighing on the hospital, but it has managed to remain true to its roots, Todd said.
“Over 60 years ago this community came together literally with shovel in hand, with hammer in hand, to build a hospital to meet its healthcare needs,” Todd said. “It was built by the community for the community. Unlike the other organizations that today have passed through multiple owners, have joined large healthcare conglomerates or are owned by out-of-state corporations, St. Luke remains what it was when it was built: community-owned and community-directed.”
