We are less than one month away from the Grand Opening & Dedication Ceremonies for the new hospital to be held on June 2 & 3. During the week of June 4,
the staff will begin the move, training will be held for the staff, and eventually the patients will start to come to the new building. It has been an amazing process as our rural area has raised over $1.4 million to help make this happen. The facility in Oakes is the only non-government funded and new (not remodeled) hospital building built in rural North Dakota since the 1960’s. Can’t get more positive than that!
The Foundation continues to raise funds for the alternate projects of the multi-purpose emergency bay, the helipad, the brick on the front of the building, and the paved employee parking lot. A very generous contribution of $90,000 was received from Harlan Klefstad towards the multi-emergency bay in November 2006. Dakota Medical Foundation committed to a matching grant of up to $20,000 and we have completed our portion of that grant with $10,000 in local contributions. Phil and Dianna Hansen, along with Dakota Medical Foundation, made a $25,000 pledge to the x-ray department of the new hospital. A $2500 contribution from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad was received. We extend our thanks to Sonia Meehl of Crete Grain and Jonathan Long of BNSF for assisting with the efforts on that donation.
As you may recall, Bill Ott of PPI began the fundraising for the hospital in April of 2004. He proposed that as part of the “We Care Campaign”, someone giving a donation of $25,000 or more would be given the opportunity to choose a room to be named for their gift. At the present time, nearly twenty contributors have participated in the room naming opportunity. The most recent naming opportunity donation was from the family of Marvin Malmberg and they have chosen to name the Pharmacy Department in Marvin’s honor. Marvin Matthew Malmberg was born and raised in Oakes. He was the son of Martin and Mary (Johnson) Malmberg. He graduated from Oakes High School in 1949 and served in the Oakes and Valley City Army National Guard units, receiving an honorable discharge as a First Lieutenant. He attended the North Dakota State University College of Pharmacy, graduating with a BS in Pharmacy in 1956 and his MS in Pharmacy Administration in 1958.
Marvin served as the Chief Pharmacist at St.Ansgar Hospital in Moorhead, Minnesota from 1958-1970. From 1970–1997, he owned and operated Medical Pharmacy, Inc in Fargo, North Dakota. Marvin served on the North Dakota State Board of Pharmacy and was President in 1993 and 1999. He was also a compliance officer for the Board. In this capacity, he often visited the Oakes Community Hospital. This generous contribution is given in honor of Marvin by his children – Dr. Mark Malmberg, Marty Malmberg, Peggy Rodenburg, Paul Malmberg, Nancy Thomas, and John Malmberg.
If you or your family have not yet donated to the “We Care Campaign” or wish to make an additional gift, please contact Kathy Sitzler at the Foundation Office through the Oakes Community Hospital at 701-742-3291. We have been planning the donor wall that will be unveiled in the fall of this year. Over 450 names are to be included – we would love to have even more!
