Since coming to Albert Lea four years ago, frequently I’ve been uttering a particular word: “Wow!”

It began the first time I approached Broadway Avenue and fell in love with the beautiful downtown architecture.

When I saw Fountain Lake, the gazebo, the mermaid it was another “Wow!”

And when I entered Albert Lea Medical Center, well, that was a double “WOW!”

As an Iowa state senator representing five counties, I had visited many hospitals and clinics but this one seemed extraordinary. I was visiting to discuss an opportunity to become ALMC’s first development officer; after a second conversation, it was easy to say “yes.” I was eager to be a part of the Mayo Health System; to train and learn with the best of the best. I had researched the doctors at ALMC and knew I could meet all of my health care needs, including vision, right there. And when I learned of the privileged referral access to Mayo specialists because of ALMC’s affiliation, I was convinced this was a team I should join.

My next impressive introduction was to the trustees of Naeve Health Care Foundation. It was founded in 1963 by thoughtful public servants and has been managed through the years by hundreds of loyal volunteers, all committed to local, quality health care. NHCF commits all of its financial resources exclusively to ALMC.

During my legislative years, I became keenly aware of the many challenges and struggles of rural health care, not only financial but especially physician recruitment. I am convinced the difference between success and failure depends on a community’s involvement and the value its citizens place on first-class, hometown care. Recruiting a doctor is only the first step; good schools and how the community embraces his or her family is what get us to the second step.

I can now admit my first few months on the job gave me moments of pause. It had been 32 years since ALMC had asked for help from its employees or its community. That is a long time to let partnerships lapse and my job was to re-ignite the passion that existed when the new hospital was built in 1975.

The next “wow” came when all of the volunteers we asked to help with a capital campaign said “yes!”

Marge Hamersly, Dan Dorman, Dr. Ted and Judy Myers, Claire Vermedahl, Drs. Wayne Buckmaster, Michael Eckstrom and Stephen Thorn, Mary Carstens, Shirley Ryan, Paul Overgaard, Darv Habben, Dick Rocklin, Alice Hanson, Judy Verdoorn, Tom Newell and Rich Murray.

These busy people are incredibly committed to their medical center and are great ambassadors for Albert Lea. I am richer for knowing all of them. They each made a personal gift and then began asking friends and neighbors to join them. Gifts came in the form of cash, pledges, IRA rollovers, estate giving, grain, U.S. bonds, and real estate. These early gifts have moved us to the $2 million mark in our $3 million goal.

One of my biggest “wows” was the solicitation of our family — the employees of ALMC. For the first time in 32 years, we were asking them to share not only their time and talents, but also their resources. Colleagues who have shared personal stories with me about “working two jobs to get ahead,” opened their hearts and their wallets to become a partner of health care. Many donated the dollar value of personal time off days they were willing to sacrifice. Their generous responses moved me to tears.

In 1931, Dr. Will Mayo said, “I look through a half-opened door into the future, full of interest, intriguing beyond my power to describe, but with a full understanding that it is for each generation to solve its own problems and that no man has the wisdom to guide or control the next generation.”

For 103 years, generations before us helped provide the health care we now enjoy at Albert Lea Medical Center. I believe the capacity to partner with ALMC is present, and I fervently hope the inclination to do so will be proven in the coming weeks as we ask every citizen to invest in their medical center.

Betty Soukup is the development director for Albert Lea Medical Center. She can be reached at 377-6380.