Couple Donates $130K for High-End Transport Unit

[Pictured are Lloyd and Bea Smith, members of the RRH Foundation Board, RRH CEO James Suver, RRH Corporate Board Chair Bud Haslam, members of the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce, and Liberty staff, including director Erin Cocciolone.]

Thanks to the generous donation of a retired couple, Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Foundation was able to dedicate a new state-of-the-art Critical Care Transport unit to RRH’s Liberty Ambulance Service.

The foundation, hospital and Liberty held a dedication to ceremony on Oct. 14 to honor Lloyd and Bea Smith, who made a substantial donation that enabled RRH to add the CCT to the Liberty fleet.

Lloyd is a China Lake retiree, and his wife Bea is a former nurse at RRH. They have been longtime contributors to the foundation, but their decision to donate another $130,000 last year has had a huge impact not only on the hospital, but on the community it serves.

RRH Foundation Executive Director Kim Metcalf said that the couple wanted to make sure that they were able to glean the most community benefit for the donation and it was ultimately determined that our residents would be best served by placing a new, high-tech, critical-care ambulance on the streets to provide advanced health care for our patients.

The vehicle enables nurses and paramedics to deliver critical care to patients who are being transported for specialized care or services.

“The ambulance is officially in use and several members of the Liberty Ambulance crew have received special training in the operation of the vehicle,” said Metcalf.

She noted that the Smith’s donation is the largest single contribution, to date, to the RRH Foundation.

This past summer, when the Foundation was nearing the $1 million mark, and was just $14,000 shy of the goal, the Smith’s once again met the challenge to donate the balance toward that milestone.

“We are fortunate to have so many generous contributors,” said Metcalf. “The Smiths are among these, and I want our residents to know that a part of the reason we are able to offer some of these specialized services is because of the people in our community who have invested in their local hospital.”