Hospital staff donates over $13,000 to Foundation’s Annual Appeal Campaign


The VMH Staff made over $13,000 in personal donations last year to the hospital’s Foundation in order to purchase equipment identified by the staff that is needed to better serve the community. Pictured, left to right, standing in the new patient courtyard area outside of the main entrance to the hospital which was donated by staff are staff members Chuck Votsmier, Cindy Heffern, Wendy Bucheit, Jeanne Stein and Gene Leiran, who are all members of the hospital’s Culture Committee. Submitted photo.

This new meal prep area in the hospital’s Dining Room was one of the many donations made by the staff during their campaign last fall. Pictured are staff members Jeanne Stein, Jennifer Palmer and Lisa Christianson with the new counter and cupboards that were recently installed. This fund drive is held each fall for all staff at Veterans Memorial Hospital and consistently raises thousands of dollars for upgrades in equipment and furnishings recommended by the staff. Submitted photo.

The staff of Veterans Memorial Hospital pledged over $13,000 this last year to the VMH Health Care Foundation’s annual appeal campaign. The total raised in personal staff contributions was used to purchase equipment and furnishings identified by the staff that is needed in the hospital to better serve the community.

“I am impressed and pleased by the staff’s generosity and participation again this last year,” states Mike Myers, hospital administrator. “Our Culture Committee took a leadership role in identifying hospital-wide needs, setting a financial goal, and organizing this employee campaign which was extremely successful. This process is an indication of the great dedication the hospital staff has to the service of our patients.”

This fund drive is held each fall for all staff at Veterans Memorial Hospital and consistently raises over $13,000 each year for upgrades in equipment and furnishings recommended by the staff.

This past year, a new patient courtyard area was added to the main entrance of the hospital as well as an additional meal prep area added to the current hospital Dining Room. In addition, a hover mat was purchased for ease of moving patients from one bed or cot to another and is currently being utilized in all areas of the hospital.

New lighting was added outside near the MRI area for safety and security reasons from these staff donations, as well as a portable suction unit which was added to the second ambulance. The staff funds also contributed to a new Panda Infant Warmer for the maternity services department.

The dedicated staff at VMH provides this type of monetary support to Veterans Memorial Hospital each year.  Already another $15,000 has been pledged to the hospital for many needed pieces of equipment that will now be purchased this upcoming year, including a pedia graph immobilizer for using with children in X-ray, a new Outpatient Phlebotomy Chair and tray table for the Lab Drawing Room, a new continuous glucose monitoring system for the diabetes department, some new chairs for the patient rooms, additional security cameras, handheld pulse oximeters for the ambulances, a bariatric bedside commode for patients and a new chest freezer for the rehab ice packs.

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s annual direct mail campaign was mailed out to the area communities served by the hospital last month. The funds raised in this annual campaign will be used to purchase a new defibrillator for the emergency department at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The goal is to raise $35,000 for this purchase.

Donations are currently being accepted by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation for this defibrillator. The Veterans Memorial Hospital Health Care Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization that supports the hospital and other health care related needs in northeast Iowa. All gifts to the Foundation are tax deductible. Anyone with any questions about the campaign or Foundation is invited to call the hospital at 563-568-3411.