Dorothy Kalabus has earned a special status at Yavapai Regional Medical Center: She is YRMC’s longest-serving volunteer. During her years of service, Dorothy has not only witnessed the evolution of community-based healthcare in Yavapai County, she also has participated in it.
While serving on the Hospital Auxiliary Board, Dorothy and other members would allocate funds from annual Gift Shop and baby photo sales to help the hospital enhance healthcare services in the community. The Auxiliary’s list of contributions included a Holter electrocardiogram purchased in 1977 … Xeromammography equipment – a forerunner to mammography – in 1981 … and a new baby scale for the Obstetrics Department in 1984.
Dorothy recalls the year the Auxiliary purchased a monitor for the Obstetrics Department. The new equipment allowed doctors and nurses to observe babies in distress.
Click here to watch My Memories of YRMC: Dorothy Kalabus on YouTube.
“Fortunately, that monitor was there when my daughter went into labor,” she said. “My grandson, Michael, was one of the first babies to need it. Thanks in part to that monitor, he was a healthy newborn.”
When Dorothy’s volunteer service began in 1980, she had no idea how important her involvement would be to her family or community.
“This hospital has become a brilliant, superb facility, and I’ve been fortunate enough to watch it happen,” said Dorothy. “It has a lot to do with the leadership, administration, nurses and volunteers.”
And as a community-based hospital, YRMC is very grateful for the support of volunteers, like Dorothy.