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WHY I GIVE: The Critical Importance of Supporting Local Healthcare

Unless you or your loved ones have recently been hospitalized with serious illness or injury, it may come as a surprise to learn the high level of healthcare we have available to us right here in Humboldt County. More than just a local hospital, Providence St. Joseph actually acts as a regional medical center, providing nationally recognized care for patients with cancer, traumatic injury, cardiac emergencies, orthopedic and neurosurgery needs, and more, for a tri-county area.

Radiation Oncologists at St. Joseph treat cancer patients in Humboldt County with the same level of high-tech equipment and practices used at Stanford and UCSF medical centers. The hospital’s top heart surgeon came to Humboldt after training at some of the best facilities in the country, including Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Mass General. And the Providence St. Joseph Emergency Room is designated as a Level 3 Trauma Center—meaning most patients facing critical emergencies are now able to be treated here in Humboldt instead of transported out of the area for care. 

Over the past 10 years, investments in life-saving programs, state of the art technology, and recruitment of highly trained specialists has transformed our local healthcare delivery system.

Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the extraordinary level of medicine we have for a community our size. 

Many patients may not be aware of the fact that the hospital financially helps support the clinics of local physicians, even though it does not operate the office of your primary care doctor or hire the doctors that work there. But tremendous hospital resources are devoted to help with recruitment of more physicians to Humboldt, because the partnership between your family practice physician and the doctor who treats you at the hospital is vital.

Here is where donors come in…

While it’s the job of health care systems like Providence to keep hospitals up and running with necessary equipment upgrades, information systems, medications and supplies, the funding that puts specialized care over the top, at hospitals throughout the nation, comes from philanthropy. From Harvard Medical Center to UCLA to Providence Redwood Memorial in Fortuna—generous people everywhere give to their local hospitals to ensure the medical staff has the very best tools, techniques, and training possible to make their community’s hospital the very best it can be.

What makes Humboldt special is the level of local giving. Our community outshines many from the Bay Area to the Oregon border in the percentage of donations made to support local healthcare.

So… Why do I Give??

Steve Kimberling - To Help Our Economy Grow

Becoming a donor to St. Joseph Hospital was an easy choice. Not only have they provided my own family with excellent care, but as the co-owner of a business that largely brings outside dollars into the local economy, I see quality healthcare as a vital part of economic growth. I think there is no farther reaching, long-term impact you can make with a gift benefitting our community than to give to local healthcare. Ensuring our hospital has the latest equipment and technology means top quality care, which attracts new businesses, new physicians, and improves our quality of life in this community.

— Steve Kimberling, Co-Owner, Eureka Payments

Becky Giacomini – To Keep Care Local

I support St. Joseph and Redwood Memorial because I want to ensure the best care possible is available right here in our community. Giving to our hospitals allows them to operate at a higher level and helps prevent the need to travel for specialized care like orthopedic surgery, cardiac care, and cancer treatment.

— Walt & Becky Giacomini, Humboldt County Cattle Ranchers

Wayne Caldwell - To Ensure Healthcare Peace of Mind

I became a champion of the hospital after the Cardiac Care team at St. Joseph Heart Institute saved my life. To me, the importance of giving back, supporting our healthcare workers, and aligning my and my company’s philanthropic contributions with the future vision of hospital leadership all connects to ensure healthcare peace of mind for our community. Knowing that there is high quality care we can depend on, now, and for future generations is absolutely critical to me as a local business owner and donor.

— Wayne Caldwell, CFP, Chairman of the Board, Premier Financial Group, Eureka

Money that is raised in Humboldt County, stays in Humboldt County. In the past two years, local donor funds have provided diagnostic and life-saving equipment along with state-of-the-art technology and treatments for patients in cardiac arrest, needing heart transplants, on ventilators from COVID, trauma cases in the Emergency Room, moms and babies in distress during childbirth, and hundreds of local people battling cancer.

Because here in Humboldt, we take care of our own.

If you would like to become a donor, and help ensure our hardworking caregivers and highly trained physicians have the best tools possible to treat our community, visit here to give: Providence St. Joseph Hospital Foundation.