YRMC’s 75th anniversary celebration theme “Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow” highlights the meaning of community-based, not-for-profit healthcare. The Memory Catcher Project gave our community an opportunity to join this conversation by sharing anecdotes from their lives that involve the hospital.
Willow Creek is normally a docile stream that winds its way through Prescott. But on September 23, 1983 – when 14.5 inches of rain soaked the Prescott area in a 24-hour period – Willow Creek was anything but passive. In fact, the creek was 800 feet wide in some sections. The torrents of water that rushed down Willow Creek and Skull Valley Road Wash upended cars, destroyed houses and left the community without water. The Prescott Courier’s front page headline – “Destruction” – summed up the situation. Below it, “Flooding leaves homeless, but no deaths” was like a sigh of relief given the destruction. Watch My Memories of YRMC: Gerry Turley on YouTube. Flood Strands YRMC Employees “I remember that flood and how it devastated Prescott,” said Gerry Turley, a 40-year employee of Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) who worked in the hospital’s Accounting, Accounts Payable, Payroll and other business operation divisions. YRMC was spared damage, but for days, hospital employees who were affected – including Harriet Mcqueary – struggled to get to work. But Mcqueary had a loyal and caring employee on her team who went out of her way for her supervisor. “I convinced my father that Harriet Mcqueary needed to be at work,” Turley said. “We drove the back roads to get to where she lived and get her back to work.” Turley and her father made that muddy trip as long as Willow Creek Road and Jack Drive were flooded. YRMC Staff Offers Support “Yavapai was a great place,” said Turley, who recalled the support she received on a number of occasions. “You knew you could depend on people and that’s still true.”
Many families gather their children on Christmas Eve to read a story. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore are traditional favorites. But the Tenney family – who have called Prescott home since 1915 – take the tradition a step further by telling their own real-life Christmas story. As Rich Tenney, PT, DPT, PRC, Physical Therapist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) tells it, “The story begins at Yavapai Community Hospital in early December of 1945.” About that time, Rich’s grandparents – Boyd and Rachel Tenney – became parents to their third child. She was born a bit early so Rachel and the baby remained at Yavapai Community Hospital (now Yavapai Regional Medical Center) until Christmas Eve. Watch My Memories of YRMC: Rich Tenney, Part 2 on YouTube. The Tenney Family Christmas Story As she was packing to leave the hospital, Rachel noticed another new mom in the hospital’s Obstetrics Ward who was crying. She asked her what was wrong. The new mom said she was worried about her other children. Their home in Wickenburg had burned down so the family was living with the woman’s mother in an old cabin southeast of Prescott. They had no firewood, food, clothing or Christmas gifts. “That mom was worried her children weren’t going to have a Christmas,” Rich said. This couldn’t happen. Rachel wrote a note to her husband Boyd that read, “We have a family in need that needs a Christmas, food, clothing and fuel.” An employee of the Tenney family’s feed store was dispatched to deliver the note with these explicit directions: “You grab Boyd by the collar and you say, ‘You read this note,’ and you don’t let go of his collar until he starts reading.” Boyd, moved by what he read in the note, stopped what he was doing and rallied members of his church and the community. They worked together that Christmas Eve, filling a cattle truck with coal, wood, clothing, food and gifts. “It was a pretty slow drive to the family’s cabin because the road was muddy,” Rich said. But the long drive was worth it. When Boyd pulled up to the family’s cabin, one of the children saw the cattle truck and said to his siblings, “I told you Santa Claus would come.” YRMC Builds Community Connections The story doesn’t end there for the Tenney family and YRMC. In addition to Rich, two other Tenney family members – a physician and a nurse – have cared for patients at YRMC. At least eight of Rich’s siblings and cousins were born at the hospital. Rich’s wife, Tami, and two of their four children also were born at YRMC. “Two of the four most sacred moments in my life happened at YRMC,” said Rich. “It will always be a special place because it’s where two of my children came into the world.”
Gwen Sick had dealt with back problems over the years, but nothing like she experienced in 2008 while she was planting 15 gallon trees at her home in Paulden. “I blew my back out,” she said. “I couldn’t function after that. When I walked, the lower part of my body rotated because basically, it wasn’t attached. If I laid down, I needed help getting up. It was painful.” Gwen had fractured the bones that hold the three discs at the base of the spine. Her next stop was surgery at a hospital in Phoenix. Gwen’s post-surgical recovery was difficult. She was given Heparin to prevent blood clots. Her blood pressure plummeted and her legs were numb. An anticipated three-day hospitalization stretched into six days, with four days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). At home in Paulden on the ninth day following surgery, Gwen still didn’t feel right. “I was sitting in a chair, and I thought, ‘My legs feel dead. It feels like they’re not there.’” Watch My Memories of Yavapai Regional Medical Center: Gwen Sick on YouTube. A Mystery Illness Soon Gwen was in the Emergency Department at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC). The hospital team began sorting through Gwen’s contradictory early test results. An ultrasound detected blood clots in her legs while a blood test showed her platelet count was at a very low 22,000. The question: How could Gwen have blood clots when she didn’t have enough platelets in her blood to form clots? Enter Mukundkumar Patel, MD, a YRMC Internal Medicine physician who specializes in Hematology/Oncology. He believed Gwen was suffering from a rare autoimmune reaction to Heparin, a diagnosis soon confirmed by a special blood test. “Dr. Patel said there was a chance that I could lose a limb,” Gwen recalled. “But, he said they were going to do everything to stop that from happening. My arm was purple at the time.” YRMC Team Saves Gwen Dr. Patel prescribed a slow-acting blood thinner. Still, there was concern the blood clots could break loose and cause significant health issues for Gwen. Next, Dr. Patel recommended implanting a special filter that would permanently trap any clots. Using a state-of-the-art, interventional radiology procedure, the filter was placed into Gwen’s carotid artery. Her platelets soon rebounded and after three weeks she left YRMC for home. “Everybody at the hospital was great,” she said. “I’m so glad the YRMC Emergency Room team contacted Dr. Patel, because if they hadn’t, I could have died.” Today, Gwen walks, swims and does most anything she wants. But, she leaves any planting of 15 gallon trees to others.
Bill Fain is remembered for many achievements: bringing water into the dry patch of land known as Lonesome Valley … envisioning and then bringing to reality the vibrant town of Prescott Valley … giving generously to myriad community causes … and constructing Granville, the area’s first master planned community. Brad Fain – the youngest of Bill and Nancy Fain’s four children and CEO of Fain Signature Group – adds to that list of accomplishments. “Part of my father’s legacy is that he helped make healthcare readily available through a generous gift,” Brad said. “A community needs healthcare, schools and parks. It’s all part of the fabric of the community.” Watch Our Memories of YRMC: The Fain Family on YouTube. Three generations of Fain family members (left to right), William “Marion”, Norman “Bill” and Granville “Dan” Fain. A Generous Gift That generous gift from the Fain family came in the form of the land – prime Prescott Valley real estate – on which Yavapai Regional Medical Center (YRMC) East stands today. Bill and Nancy Fain’s significant gift may also have been inspired by a personal experience, the kind parents don’t forget. It happened one morning about 40 years ago when Ron Fain – 5-years-old at the time – tagged along with his Father to the ranch. Ron loved playing – exploring the fields for treasures – while his Dad and his team lined up the work for the day. This time, however, his treasure hunt turned dangerous when he took a drink from a jug he found. “It turned out to be kerosene,” said Ron, who is now Fain Signature Group’s Director of Sales and Marketing. After a frantic call to Yavapai Community Hospital (now YRMC West), Bill was instructed to have his son drink as much milk as possible. The Emergency Department team would be ready when he arrived with young Ron. “Dad burned out an engine on the way to the hospital, but we got there and at the end of the day it all worked out,” Ron said. “That was probably a 20-mile drive with kerosene in my stomach versus what today would be a three-mile drive to YRMC East.” YRMC East in Prescott Valley just before its opening in 2006. A Dream Realized Nancy Fain, who moved to the community after marrying Bill in the 1960s, recalls her excitement when YRMC East opened in 2006. “I took three different tours of the hospital,” she said. “I just couldn’t seem to get enough of it. It impresses me the way that it’s expanded; you have the Birthing Center, the BreastCare Center, the Infusion Center and the Outpatient Center. It’s just beautiful, the way it has happened.” That growth all stems from Bill Fain’s vision for a thriving community. Bill’s sons, Brad and Ron, agree that economic development was their father’s greatest gift to the community. “Everything had a purpose,” Brad said. “Dad brought in the Prescott Valley Town Hall – that had a purpose. A community needs a place for civic activities, and its courts and a police station.” YRMC East also was part of the community’s equation for success. The hospital – and its other services – has both boosted economic development and enhanced residents’ quality of life, according to the Fain family. The proximity of high-quality hospital services attracts employers. The hospital also improves property values for area homeowners. A Bright Future With the community’s strong infrastructure in place, what does the future hold for Prescott Valley? “It’s going to attract businesses we can’t even imagine,” Ron said. “The hard work of civic leaders, healthcare leaders, developers and the community is going to continue to put Prescott Valley on the map.” Nancy and Brad agree. “Prescott Valley will continue to grow and prosper,” said Nancy. Just as her husband Bill envisioned.
