The St. Andrews Auxiliary was graciously hosted by St Andrews Village for its 2016 annual meeting on Oct. 19. As always, a delicious meal was served but not before Cindy Wade, LincolnHealth executive vice president and chief operations officer accepted a check on behalf of LincolnHealth in the amount of $50,644.00 from Auxiliary Treasurer Carol Lingard.

Each September, LincolnHealth submits a "wish list" to the Auxiliary board for consideration and this year, according to Wade, Boothbay-based LincolnHealth employees are "thrilled" to have every item on their list funded. Auxiliary support is important because the money allows for purchases of specific items that are not included in the regular LincolnHealth budget but do enhance the services offered by our peninsula health care providers to patients and /or facility residents.

Gifts included $10,000 to help fund three ceiling lifts at the new Zimmerli Pavilion, $1,300 for a hand held digital doppler for Urgent Care, $5,000 for a truck sander to keep the road safe at the Village, $800 for volunteer training for the Music and Memory Program at the Gregory Wing and $2,500 for the Patient Care Account that covers incidental, out of pocket expenses for items a patient might need but not be able to afford.

The total gift also included $10,000 targeted to assist with extra costs associated with the LincolnHealth program that brings Tufts medical students to our area each year for training in rural medicine with the hope these students will return to practice in Maine subsequent to their graduation.

If you're quick with figures you will have noted the above list only adds up to about $30,000. The remaining balance includes funding for recliners and a "stand to lift" chair for the Gregory Wing, a minor procedure light, ear irrigation system and infant scale for the Urgent Care, three housekeeping carts, a tray cart, a double door freezer, a portable refreshment stand and a Hobart mixer for the Village and six new garden chairs for Safe Havens. For a listing by dollar amounts visit the St Andrews Thrift Store and while you are there do a little shopping to support the organization that makes these donations possible.

Another important focus of financial giving for the Auxiliary is the support of continuing education for our local health care employees. Linda Redman, scholarship chair for the Auxiliary, reported that in addition to the $10,000 grant for the Tufts students, individual healthcare students received in total $17,000 from October 2015 through September 2016.

This figure includes $5,485 awarded in varying amounts to three deserving recipients of the Fran Hale Scholarship. The most recent of these awards was presented to Megan Brents, who is attending the CMCC (Central Maine Community College) Nursing Program at the Lincoln County Healthcare Center in Damariscotta.

Megan's passion for nursing surfaced after supporting her grandfather in hospice. Based on this experience, Megan is pursuing her desire to assist others as they face end of life issues by directing her studies to hospice care nursing. Megan is typical of many of our local healthcare students. She supported her husband in his transition from the military to a teaching career and says it is now her turn to follow her goal of becoming a nurse. Her strong work ethic, high degree of motivation and team leadership qualities have been cited by her references as good reasons to believe she will successfully meet that goal.

The balance of more than $11,000 has been distributed among 13 other scholarship applicants pursuing either nursing degrees or continuing education credits to augment knowledge and experience for healthcare careers in which they are already engaged. Palliative care, fall prevention, stroke recovery, end stage diseases, physical and occupational therapy and the treatment of arterial, venous and neuropathic ulcers are examples of the broad spectrum of studies the scholarship dollars have funded.

Volunteers also serve an important function within the St. Andrews Auxiliary and Pieternella Harris, service records chair, reported that 98 volunteers performed 9,787 hours in various locations to benefit the community during the past year. Many of those volunteers worked within one of the healthcare facilities but most volunteer at the St. Andrews Thrift Store that continues to be managed by the able hands of Penny Thumith.

As the business portion of the meeting came to a close, the membership welcomed Loriman Looke, executive director of St. Andrews Village, who addressed the group on the Continuum of Care available at the Village which includes independent living in cottages and/or apartments, assisted living, memory care, skilled rehabilitation and long term nursing.

For detailed information about what the Village can offer check out www.standrewsvillage.com/ or call Bob Drury at (207) 633-0920, extension 5425.

For more information about joining the Auxiliary or to volunteer, come by the St. Andrews Thrift Store or call Carole Zalucky at 207-841-0577.