Stark family donates patient lift to John C. Fremont Healthcare District

The family of the late Bob Stark, a longtime Catheys Valley resident, has donated a new Arjo Stand Assist Lift to John C. Fremont Healthcare District’s Acute Department, fulfilling a need that had been the focus of a fundraising campaign by the JCF Hospital Foundation.

The Foundation had been seeking $6,528 to purchase the lift when Stark’s family contacted the organization. The family had a brand-new Arjo lift that had never been used and chose to donate it in Stark’s memory so it could be used to care for patients in the community.

“There is something incredibly meaningful about a family experiencing loss and choosing to turn that grief into an act of generosity,” Executive Administrator Miranda Wass said. “Because of Bob’s family, a need at our hospital has been fulfilled, and this lift will now be here to support patients and the staff who care for them.”

Rachel Key, chief nursing officer, said the Arjo Stand Assist Lift will help staff safely assist patients with mobility while preserving patient dignity and reducing the risk of injury to patients, residents and staff.

Wass said the Foundation is deeply grateful to the Stark family for thinking of the hospital and for allowing Stark’smemory to live on through the donation.

Before the Stark family’s donation, community members had contributed $2,200 toward the lift. The Foundation said those donations will now be directed toward the next item on the Healthcare District’s list: a BiPAP machine with high-flow oxygen capability.

A BiPAP machine, or Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure machine, is a non-invasive device that helps patients breathe by delivering pressurized air through a mask. Unlike a standard CPAP machine, which provides one continuous level of pressure, a BiPAP machine uses two pressure levels to reduce the effort required to breathe. Hospital officials said the device would be especially useful in the emergency room as an alternative, when appropriate, to intubation.

Community members who wish to contribute to the BiPAP campaign may donate by check to JCFHF, PO Box 1093, Mariposa, CA 95338, or online at https://www.jcfhospitalfoundation.org/get-involved/donate-now. Donations are tax-deductible.

The JCF Hospital Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the rural communities of the John C. Fremont Healthcare District through partnership and philanthropy.

For more information and Foundation updates, follow @jcfhospitalfoundation on Facebook and Instagram. The Foundation’s quarterly newsletter signup is available at https://forms.gle/hzSQn5RnHzneDJC66.