SLVH Employees Donate to Avista Hospital Employees
SLV Health
San Luis Valley Health Helping Hands Committee Members in bold font
L to R: Shane Mortensen, CFO, Ressa Gonzales, Robin Valle, Joe Stephens, Brenda Marchildon, Dr. Cynthia Wheat, Jeanette Martinez, Konnie Martin, CEO, Dan Bean, Dr. Carla Christ, and Lyndsey Williams.
Not pictured from the HH Committee: Amy Brenneman (photographer), Antonio Gurule, Senior Administrator, Rana Criss, Kim Duran, Kristina Gomez, Lacrecia Smith, and Alfred Villa.
As details from the Marshall fire became available, San Luis Valley Health (SLVH) learned that our health care colleagues from Avista Hospital had personally experienced great losses. "Helping Hands" is the SLVH employee assistance program, where staff donates dollars and paid time off to assist work colleagues. Helping Hands committee members sold t-shirts with a logo designed by the Colorado Hospital Association. Along with t-shirt sales, they raised funds through cafeteria sales at the Regional Medical Center in Alamosa and Conejos County Hospital in La Jara during the last full week of January 2022. The Medical Staff and SLVH's Administration contributed funds for a total donation of $16,465 to directly assist the employees at Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado.
“We are proud to step up in such times as these,” commented Konnie Martin, SLVH CEO. “We all know that a wildfire of this nature could devastate any one of our communities. This donation is special because it is employee to employee. I am grateful to work around such caring people who came forward and made donations to this cause.”
A virtual ceremony between employees was held to celebrate the donation on Friday, February 4, 2022. The leadership at Avista and Centura were grateful and were touched emotionally by the generosity and care they felt from the staff at SLV Health.
