More than 300 people attended the fundraising event.

DEL NORTE—The Rio Grande Hospital held their annual Keeping the Dream Alive fundraising event on Saturday, Aug. 10. The event is the only fundraiser the hospital hosts throughout the year and is anticipated by the entire Del Norte and surrounding communities. What is amazing about the event is the amount of people who show up to show support from the community, and it typically generates upwards of $50,000 in private donations alone.
The hospital has had a pivotal year with the grand opening of their newly renovated facilities that bring state of the art medical care to the rural San Luis Valley. The new facilities are already being used to help local residents and guests to the Valley including the new hypobaric chamber which uses an oxygen-rich environment to promote healing and remove infection from patients suffering from a wide range of ailments.
Earlier in June, the hospital held an open house for community members at the new maintenance shed that was built on hospital grounds which included dinner and a unique opportunity to see all of the new facilities. According to the Rio Grande Hospital, they will soon host another ribbon-cutting for the new physical therapy facility that was recently expanded in the Monte Vista Clinic.
In a previous interview, hospital CEO Arlene Harms spoke about how hospital staff, nurses and physicians have spent considerable amount of time training for the new equipment and facilities stating, “I am so proud of our doctors and nurses for going the extra mile to be trained in these areas of care. It has been like getting hit in the face with a fire hydrant hose. All of the information they have learned in the last few months is amazing and when we decided to open these clinics, we always said that if we could save one life with this new service, it would all be worth it.”
Saturday night was a huge success with dinner provided by local Mountain View Restaurant owners Ron and Glenda Martinez. The entertainment for the evening came from local auctioneer Brady Stagner.
Stagner spent the evening auctioning off several items that were donated for the event, often heckling the crowd into bids that reached upwards of $1,000 or more as they laughed and cheered throughout the evening. Though final numbers have not been complied yet, the hospital was very successful this year.
Harms thanked the attending crowd for their generous donations and spoke kindly about the community and the people who make the event possible every year, including the many sponsors and donors for the event.
All monies collected are used to fund several projects, though a specific project has not been selected as of yet. A huge thanks goes out to everyone who attended, volunteered, sponsored or donated to the event!