Thursday, May 7, 2009

Here for you, when you need us

Recently Mindy Uitermarkt and I were invited to Monsanto to talk with their employees about GRMC and our annual fund drive. It was my first opportunity to tour the new engineering division of this amazing Monsanto complex. I must admit, I was blown away by the complexity of producing seed corn and totally impressed with everything I saw. In the simplest terms, the new Foundation division is involved in engineering new seed stock and the seed production division produces an abundant amount of this new seed for farmers. What used to be a limited seasonal operation a few years ago, is now a year-round and often a 24-hour operation. Monsanto and their employees have always been very generous and supportive of our mission and it occurred to me just how lucky our community is to have such a substantial and exciting company located here.

A month ago a few employees from the Foundation division were exposed to some seed from another country that was contaminated and made them ill. They were transported to GRMC and we were able to treat them and help them all recover. I mention this because during our presentation about our annual fund drive, several of the employees that we cared for stood up and expressed their appreciation for their experience with us. One of them made a point of coming up after the meeting and continued to express her thanks.

To be honest, it really made my day. It’s clearly the everyday work of hundreds of dedicated staff at GRMC that makes such a difference in the lives of others. I am so proud of all the women and men that make up our team. We practice being ready for all kinds of emergency and public health situations so that we may respond effectively. As we say at GRMC, this is YOUR hospital.


The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent GRMC’s positions, strategies, or opinions.

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