The Big Sandy Medical Services Foundation voted this week to donate $15,000 to the Medical Center’s kitchen renovation project. The money being given is the total amount raised by their fundraiser last year. Harry Bold explains: “The $15,000 we gave today was from our fall fundraiser. We sent out a fundraising letter to all the box holders in the Big Sandy and surrounding communities. The money will go towards the remodel of the kitchen to help purchase needed things such as a new reach-in or walk-in cooler and a fan for the exhaust system over the stove.”
Leah Griffin, the CEO at the Medical center explained the need for the remodel project: “At this point, our big ask for this year was to get that done because it hasn’t been remodeled since it was put into place.” Though the kitchen has received various equipment upgrades over the years, the full facility that was installed in the mid-80s when the Medical Center was first built remains intact. The upgrade is much needed. However, kitchen remodels tend to be one of the most expensive types of facility upgrades.
The Big Sandy Medical Services Foundation was started in 1989. It is a separate entity from the Medical Center itself. “The foundation was established to foster better healthcare in the Big Sandy community.” They have done this through fundraising and investing. The money they have raised has been used to improve services at the Medical Center in two ways. The first is through investment in the facility and equipment. To date, the Foundation has donated over $252,000 to projects at the Medical Center. Harry explains that donations include “$50,000 for an X-ray machine, and computer software updates. We’ve made other large contributions such as $25,000 to help pay for electronic medical record system. And we’ve given smaller amounts - around $500 for such things as pulse oximeters.”
The second way the Medical Foundation invests in BSMC is through awarding scholarships. “We’ve always given the scholarships to young people that are pursuing a medical career in hopes that we someday can attract them home to be hometown employees.” To date, the foundation has dispersed 103 scholarships amounting to over $35,100 dollars. The scholarships are given to students pursuing fields that could potentially benefit the local facility, such as nursing, medical assistants, radiologists, laboratory techs, and physical therapists. Though there are no requirements attached to the scholarships, students are encouraged to work at the Medical Center during vacations from school to gain firsthand medical experience.
In the fall, the Foundation will be sending out letters seeking donations again. The kitchen remodel is one potential project for support with the fundraising. They are also discussing donating toward the CT scanner project that the Medical Center is looking to take on in the near future.
Locals who do not live in the nearby zip codes do not receive support requests, because the fundraising letters are sent to zip codes rather than specific addresses. Anyone interested in receiving the fundraising materials to help the Foundation with its efforts to reward scholarships and supporting improvement projects can send their mailing address to me, and you will be added to a new mailing list: sietsemail@gmail.com.
Nora Grubb, the Foundation’s secretary, discussed with me the high caliber of services provided by the Medical Center. She pointed out the new Wellness Center as an example of high quality services offered at BSMC. The nursing home, X-ray facilities, on-site lab, future CT Scanner, and other services reflect an unusually high level of care for a rural medical center. She was clear that the difference in our facility is the high level of community support. Locals (past and present) support the Medical Center, which makes it all possible. The Big Sandy Medical Foundation is an important part of that support.
