More than 100 Gifford Medical Center employees raised $505 for the March of Dimes by wearing “Blue Jeans for Babies” to work on Friday, March 20, 2015.
Each March the Randolph medical center and its outlying health clinics participate in the fund-raiser, which allows employees who donate $5 to the March of Dimes to wear jeans to work for the day. The March of Dimes is the nation’s leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health. It raises funds through a variety of events to help prevent birth defects, premature births and infant mortality.
Roger Clapp, executive director of the March of Dimes in Vermont, thanked hospital employees for their participation in the fund-raiser and – as a medical center with a renowned Birthing Center – for their work toward healthy births. “The March of Dimes recognizes the care and commitment to excellence among the Gifford team that contributes to Vermont’s national lead in preventing premature birth. We’re particularly thankful to be able to reinvest the staff’s fund-raising proceeds to give every baby in Vermont a healthier start,” Clapp said.
Gifford Birthing Center Assistant Nurse Manager Karen Summers and RN Ellen Fox presented the check to Clapp and Jo Ellen Calderara of March of Dimes in Vermont.
Gifford is also a sponsor of the Central Vermont March for Babies walk on Sunday, May 3, 2015 at Montpelier High School. Sign-up online at www.marchforbabies.org or by calling 802-560-3239
Gifford is a community hospital in Randolph, Vt., with family health centers in Berlin, Bethel, Chelsea, and Rochester and specialty services throughout central Vermont. A Federally Qualified Health Center and a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the country, Gifford is a full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency department; inpatient and rehabilitation units; many surgical services; accredited cancer program; a day care; two adult day programs; and a 30-bed nursing home, the Menig Extended Care Facility, which was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best 39 nursing homes in the country in 2012. The Birthing Center, established in 1977, was the first in Vermont to offer an alternative to the traditional hospital-based deliveries, and continues to be a leader in midwifery and family-centered care. The cancer program is accredited by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. The hospital’s mission is to improve individuals’ and community health by providing and assuring access to affordable, high-quality health care in Gifford’s service area.
Photo caption: Roger Clapp and JoEllen Calderara from March of Dimes in Vermont, receive check from Ellen Fox, RN, and Kim Summers, Birthing Center assistant nurse manager. The check was for $505 in employee donations to Blue Jeans for Babies day, and Gifford’s sponsorship of the CVT March for Babies in May.