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NSHCF Director Valerie Marasco Eliasen greeted health care directors on February 17. Staff photo Brian Larsen
The North Shore Health Care Foundation (NSHCF) honored local healthcare providers and volunteers on Wednesday, February 17. The celebration was held inside at the end of the sunny hallway between the hospital and the clinic.
In a short speech, NSHCF Executive Director Valerie Marasco Eliasen thanked the various organizations and individuals who have worked throughout the pandemic. She said that NSHCF had made a pivot with its funds, putting up $20,000 in matching funds, and noted the community response was excellent, bringing in $22,500, which brought the COVID- 19 funds to $42,500. That money is available to be used for the vaccination clinics or other efforts to stem the tide of the coronavirus, Eliasen said.
NSHCF Board President Jerry Lilja was effusive in his praise for how the community and the healthcare workers came together to keep the spread of COVID-19 down. When it came time to honor the healthcare workers and the people who have worked on the front lines, Lilja said his board enthusiastically came together to make a plan to thank those volunteers and workers. Still, he noted it was a small token of their appreciation for all of the efforts that have been put forth to keep the community as safe as possible from the virus. He also added that when talking to friends outside of the county, they were amazed at the coordination and plans implemented in Cook County when compared to the pandemic response where other people lived.
Accepting recognition and a heart-felt thanks from the North Shore Health Care Foundation on behalf of their staff who have worked long and hard through the COVID-19 pandemic were L-R: Cook County Public Health Supervisor Grace Grinager, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic CEO Kate Surbaugh, Grand Portage Director of Health Jennifer Sorenson, and North Shore Health & Care Center Director Kimber Wraalstad. Staff photo Brian Larsen
Jennifer Sorenson, Director of Grand Portage Health Services, thanked the group for including Grand Portage and said the workers would be honored to be recognized by this group for their efforts.
Grace Grinanger pointed to the community as a whole, saying it has taken everyone to follow the guidelines, wear the masks, stay socially distant no matter how tiresome it was getting to be–for the county to keep COVID-19 rates as low as they have been through this long year. Grinager, the Supervisor of Cook County Public Health, gave a thumbs up to the media for helping keep everyone informed and thanked Grand Portage Health Services for their diligence in contact tracing, noting that not many communities had the ability to perform that service.
Volunteers who have made the vaccination clinics so successful in Cook County are hard to come by in most communities said Sawtooth Mountain Clinic CEO Kate Surbaugh. Surbaugh and North Shore Health & Care Center CEO/Director Kimber Wraalstad each thanked the Foundation and their staffs and volunteers for all of their hard work and dedication to keeping people safe. Wraalstad pointed out that no one in the care center had been sick so far from the coronavirus, knock on wood, and expressed her deep appreciation for those folks who worked with the care center residents.
Eliasen held up some gift cards that are free to pick up at various gas stations or coffee shops. On the back of the cards, along the edges of the cards, are the words: Because you’ve kept us safe throughout COVID; Because you’ve cared for my loved one; Because you’ve been stuck in PPE for hours on end, for months; Because you’ve calmed my fear; Because you’ve risked your health for mine… “The cards have room for a message of your own,” said Elaisen, who asked folks to pick them up and give them to a health care worker or volunteer who has worked through this challenging time.
Eliasen said the ten North Shore Health Care Board of Directors wrote approximately 300 cards of thanks and prepared thoughtful packages to recognize employees and volunteers who have worked to keep the community safe.
The gifts and cards of thanks were made out to every local healthcare worker, from the Incident Command Team and EOC staff to physicians, nurses, janitorial, culinary and EMS units.
“As an advocate for the health and emergency services, the Foundation feels it is paramount to recognize these heroes for their diligent work in keeping Cook County safe through the pandemic, contributing to Cook County’s status as the jurisdiction with the least number of COVID-19 cases, highest vaccination rate and zero COVID-19 deaths,” Eliasen said..
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