By Brianna Mayhair
JAMESTOWN, N.D. (JRMC) – Challenging doesn’t begin to describe this year. However, it’s because of community support that legendary care remained possible.
As a thank you for the community’s generosity, the Jamestown Regional Medical Center Foundation is hosting a drive-thru Pillars of Giving event on Thursday, Sept. 2. Pillars celebrates healthcare philanthropy and supporters of the JRMC Foundation. JRMC will announce Philanthropist of the Year and celebrate the wins and future of care at JRMC. The virtual guest speaker is Emergency Department Physician Dr. Steve Inglish.
Dr. Inglish led JRMC and the community through COVID-19, especially in October and November when patients exceeded the number of hospital beds available around the state. Dr. Inglish leaned on his experience as a 21-year-old sergeant sent to invade Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“We will be tired and hungry. We will have very little rest. We will rely on each other to get through the day, week and month. We will look at each other as family. But, until then, we need to stick together,” he wrote in a letter to JRMC and the community in March 2020. “We cannot enter this war as a broken unit. Then we will surely lose.”
The success of Dr. Inglish and the legendary teams at JRMC is due, in large part, to the generosity of the community.
“Though this year presented challenges no one could predict, because of our supporters, we endured,” said Lisa Jackson, JRMC Foundation Director. “Throughout this pandemic, our care teams always had personal protective equipment and, they never experienced layoffs. Never once did our doors close. Some hospitals did.”
Supporters made possible equipment, technology and cancer care. All of meals, masks and monetary donations meant JRMC could care for the community’s physical health because the community supported the hospital’s financial health.
“Independent hospitals like JRMC are incredibly special and rare,” Jackson said. “This allows us to always act in the best interest of the patient and provide excellent quality and health outcomes, close to home. We continue to receive awards such as Top 100 Best Place to Work in the country and Top 20 Critical Access Hospital nationwide. Right now, with the support of our community and our organization’s commitment to our mission and vision, independence has served our teams and our patients well for nearly 100 years.”
The drive-thru event takes place from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 2 at The Hansen Arts Park, weather permitting. A commemorative photo book documenting the pandemic is also available for $25. Purchase a photobook at www.jrmcnd.com/photobook.