As dedicated members of the Foundation of FirstHealth for over 30 years, they were part of the continuum to make quality of life in their community far better in the future. In 1991, they joined the Scroll Society, the Foundation's most successful annual giving program.
The early 1990s were an exciting time for Moore Regional Hospital. The new surgical, orthopedic and intensive care wing had just opened; open-heart surgery was being offered for the first time; and Charles Frock became the hospital's new president and CEO. By the middle of the decade, Moore Regional Hospital was recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the country. Moore Regional Hospital and Montgomery Memorial Hospital - and later Richmond Memorial Hospital - joined to form FirstHealth of the Carolinas, the mid-Carolinas' first regional, not-for-profit health system. Sandhills Hospice became part of FirstHealth, and the largest expansion in the hospital's history was planned. The $58 million project included a four-floor patient pavilion, a new emergency department and a cancer center and was scheduled for completion in 2000.
In 1997, Dr. John Monroe, chair of the Foundation's $10 million "In Love and Service" Capital Campaign, asked Don to join the Campaign Steering Committee and to chair the campaign's Pacesetter Gifts Division. Don's co-chair for the cancer center was Michael Rowland, M.D., a surgeon with Pinehurst Surgical. The original concept for the cancer center had long been a dream of Dr. Rowland's.
"Dr. Rowland said he wished we had a suite of rooms in the patient tower for multi-disciplinary care," Don recalls. "He wanted to have a group of doctors who could play off each other and come to a logical conclusion about best treatment options for their cancer patients, but Medicare would not pay for more than one physician to see a patient at one time. I just didn't understand it. I wanted to know what I could do to change it."
Don asked Dr. Rowland to write a letter outlining his concerns that he could then pass on to a friend who frequently testified before Congress about Medicare matters. As a member of the Heritage Foundation and a charter member of The Heritage Legacy Society, Don contacted old friends Bernard T. Lomas, D.D., counselor to the president of The Heritage Foundation for more than 25 years; and Robert E. Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies and Medicare expert at The Heritage Foundation. Through their combined efforts, Congress changed Medicare laws to allow for interdisciplinary team care. Today, patients treated at FirstHealth's Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center can see physicians in a variety of specialties-on the same day and in one location.
"We are lucky to have the quality health care provided here at Moore Regional Hospital," he said. "I have such admiration for Chuck Frock. I marvel at his vision for the growth of FirstHealth. It is a revelation to me how philanthropic the hospital is itself, how FirstHealth reaches out to the people who are poorly served." That is why Don and Emily continued their generous philanthropic support throughout their lives as members of the Foundation's Scroll Society and Legacy Circle, and with charitable gift annuities.
"Bequests and endowments are the highest compliment you can give to an organization," said Don. "There are so many ways to give even small amounts," Emily agreed. "I don't think people realize every gift can make a real difference."
To learn how you can create your own endowment fund through The Foundation of FirstHealth or planned giving opportunities like Charitable Gift Annuities and bequests, please call our office at (910) 695-7500.
