Investing in the future
They were only in Carmel for the weekend. In fact, as soon as he finished his workout at the Beach & Tennis Club, the couple planned to hop in the car and return to their San Francisco home. It’s part of the reason why, at 75, they are still so vibrant and active in their lives: regular exercise and visits to the inspired beauty of the Monterey Peninsula.
Suddenly he slipped and fell, rocketing his long leg down the metal opening of a heating duct in the floor and gashing the length of his shin to the bone. As he writhed on the floor, holding onto what looked like a war wound, she wondered what to do.
She thought of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, thought she remembered how to get there and how well his mother had been cared for during her cancer journey 25 years before.
She can’t quite remember how she got her 6’3” husband up the stairs and into the car, but she did remember how to get to the hospital, and was relieved to be met by an orderly with a wheelchair upon arrival to the emergency room.
His leg required surgery and layers of stitches. Two weeks later, those stitches were removed, and another week hence, he whirled his wife and daughter across the dance floor at a family wedding.
"We really ought to give something back to this hospital," he said. "You never know when we might need it again."
The reasons people give are as varied as the benefactors, themselves. For some, it is an inspired event, a grateful moment, a personal attachment to the cause. For others, it is simply the desire to help and the understanding that supporting a community hospital offers a wider reach of care.
Whatever the motivation, charitable contributions are essential to maintaining the high quality of healthcare at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.