Occupy a place of prominence in the Mountrail County Health Center. This will be a permanent, public recognition of all who contribute. Contributors of $1,000 or more will have their names displayed in the new clinic reception area and/or the new Chapel in the Bethel Home.
Friends, family members and business associates may also be memorialized with naming opportunities throughout the new clinic, ER and Home expansions. Please call the Foundation Director for details.
Donor Recognition Levels
LEGACY CLUB
$250,000 and above
FOUNDERS CLUB
$100,000 – $249,999
BUILDERS
$50,000—$99,999
PATRONS
$25,000—$49,999
CORNERSTONE
$10,000—$24,999
FAMILY & FRIENDS
$5,000—$9,999
SUSTAINING
$1,000—$4,999
For the most recent donor list please refer to the Mountrail County Health Foundation Annual Report
The Mountrail County Health Foundation raises funds not only through cash gifts, endowments, memorials, special projects or other gifting arrangements but through grants by such great companies and non-profits such as:
2013
- Stanley Area Community Foundation—$25,000.00
- Five Year Pledge for Phase One—Enclosed Ambulance Bay, Additional ER Room, CT Scanner Suite and Nurses Station
- Farm Credit—$30,000.00
- Emergency room exam equipment including three stretches and an EKG machine and seven exam tables for the clinic
2014
- Stanley Area Community Foundation—$5,000.00, Farm Credit—$15,000.00 and St. Joe’s Community Foundation—$7,500 and the Hospital Auxiliary—$5,000
- Portable Ultrasound Machine
- Hess—$20,000.00
- X-Ray Machine
2015
- Farm Credit— $25,000.00
- Hospital Nurses Call Station
- Hess—$19,700.00
- Portable X-Ray Machine
2016
- Farm Credit —$15,000, MDU Resources Foundation—$2,500 & St. Joe’s Community Foundation—$5,000
- Rest-Q pressure redistribution Mattresses and Bed frames for the Bethel Home
- A donation from Olga Sather’s estate that was specifically used to assist in purchasing the bed frames and mattresses. The Foundation Board felt that Olga would be so happy to know all of her friends were sleeping comfortably now on new mattresses!
- Center for Rural Health—$2,500
- Funding for the 1st Annual R-COOL Scrubs Camp presented to the 9th—12th Graders at SHS
2017
- Farm Credit—$5,000, North Dakota Community Foundation—$5,000 and the Stanley Area Community Foundation—$5,000
- Secure Care Roam alert system for the Bethel Home
- Blue Cross ND Caring Foundation—$4,300
- Sitting/Standing Desks for 5 MBH Employees, 5 County Employees and 5 School Employees
- Center for Rural Health—$2,500
- Funding for the 2nd Annual R-COOL Scrubs Camp presented to the 9th—12th Graders at SHS
2018
- St. Joe’s Community Foundation – $2500
- Culinex Steam table for the Mountrail Bethel Home Kitchen
- Williston Star Fund – $30,000, Stanley Area Community Foundation – $40,000, Mountrail County JDA – $100,000 five year pledge, St. Joe’s Community Foundation – $5,000 Grant Match
- Funding for the construction of Rosen Place on 8th Assisted Living
2019
- Blue Cross ND Caring Foundation – $4,937.48
- Skittleskool II and Mental Health Hub Meeting
- Center for Rural Health – $2,500.00
- Funding for the R-COOL Scrubs Camp presented to the 9th – 12th graders at SHS
- Stanley Area Community Foundation – $7,000.00
- Funding for the Dare to Define YOU Youth Leadership Program for Stanley
Mr. Reiarson was a life-long farmer, who lived south of Ross. In his Last Will and Testament, he created a trust for the benefit of the Stanley Community Hospital. Mr. Reiarson was specific in his will that the trust be prudently managed by the Stanley Community Hospital board and be used solely for improvements and equipment. The SCH Board remains in existence as the member of the Mountrail County Health Foundation and the directing body of the T.H. Reiarson Trust. This trust has been helping with improvements for the hospital since the late 1970s.
In the Fall of 2013, as the Mountrail County Health Foundation was reviewing possible ways to finance the three phases of construction that the Mountrail County Health Center wanted to complete, an interesting discovery was made. Upon a close reading of Mr. Reiarson’s will, they found this statement: “It is my desire and wish that said Trustees shall cause to be erected a new medical clinic building for the hospital and if the Trustees shall so concur, shall be known as the Reiarson Clinic.”
During the Summer of 2014, the SCH Board pledged $2.195 million dollars toward Phase Two, the expansion of the clinic at the Mountrail County Medical Center. This nine exam room and larger lobby expansion allows for efficient scheduling and the space for more Specialist to come to Stanley. The T.H. Reiarson Rural Health Clinic was open for business on May 11th, 2015.
Trust funds from the estate of Thorsten Reiarson were first used in 1979 to purchase various equipment for the original Stanley Community Hospital and structural improvements on the building. Since 1979, the trust has been able to give over $4 million dollars for equipment enhancements, including a Mammogram Machine and Scope Equipment, and Electronic Healthcare Record systems.
When Mr. Reiarson created this Trust and stated the above, he more than likely had no idea that the Trust would have the resources to make such commitments at this level. The SCH Board is sure that if he were alive today, Mr. Reiarson would be proud of this new facility and all the enhancements his trust has allowed to happen in his honor for the community of Stanley.
To ensure the tradition of outstanding health care for generations to come, a decision was made in 1999 to integrate the existing Stanley Hospital and Mountrail County Bethel Home into a single facility. At that time a $3.5 million Capital Campaign was begun to raise funds to construct this new hospital/clinic/emergency facility. The “When Seconds Count and Quality Matters” campaign had a huge supporter in Ray Rude. In a 1999 interview, he stated that he “hoped the residents in the area understood the importance of looking ahead, understand the changes in healthcare, and will also get behind this important effort and make it successful”. His own personal drive to make this campaign successful showed through when he issued a gracious challenge to the community after making his first donation of $500,000. He matched any donations given to the project after June 19th, 1999, up to a total of $100,000. This generosity from Ray, and the entire community, enabled MCMC to open a state of the art facility in June of 2002. The new structure included the existing clinic and 11-bed acute care hospital with an emergency room. They are located on the Mountrail County Health Center campus along with the Mountrail County Bethel Nursing Home, Centennial Court senior apartments and the Ida Mae Rude Aquatic Center.
Ray felt a commitment to his former community and the future of Stanley and Mountrail County. His desire to see MCMC endure became apparent when in October of 2002 he paid off the building debt of $1,068,361.88 for the addition of the new hospital/clinic/ER facility.
Born in 1916, Ray, a former Stanley and Blaisdell native, worked in his family’s business until 1929. At the age of 15, he quit school and left North Dakota. He spent the majority of his life in California and Nevada. A self-made engineer and entrepreneur, he worked as a tool engineer for aircraft companies before he founded Duraflex International Corporation, which today still manufactures Duraflex aluminum diving boards and diving board stands. In 1948, Ray developed an aluminum diving board out of a discarded airplane wing panel. Over the years he refined it to the point that the Maxiflex Model B made by Duraflex is the only diving board used in the Olympics and all international competition. (www.duraflexinternational.com).
Following his retirement from Duraflex and the death of his wife, Ina Mae, he returned to Stanley in 2002. He lived in Centennial Court, the independent living facility attached to the Mountrail County Health Center. In December 2004, at the age of 88 he passed away in the Mountrail County Medical Center for which he felt so passionate.
Ray Rude never wanted any public recognition for his wonderful and gracious philanthropy. Stanley cannot thank him enough for this generosity. His philanthropy not only helped pay for the addition which allows MCMC to be the amazing facility it currently is, but Ray also donated the entire monies to build the Ina Mae Rude Aquatic Center which is attached to MCMC. Ray also set up a Physician Endowment Fund which helps MCMC to recruit quality doctors to the facility.
The A. H. Nelson family has long been contributors to the entire Mountrail County Health Center. Mr. A.H. Nelson, the local banker, was a key player in 1944 in the discussion for the need for a community hospital and was one of the first trustees for the Stanley Community Hospital after the Articles of Incorporation and the By-Laws were adopted in 1946. He was instrumental in the fundraising and the vision of the Stanley Community Hospital, which opened its doors in August of 1952.
In 1969, two separate gifts of $100,000 each from Mr. A. H. Nelson were received in memory of Mr. Nelson’s wife Edna to the Stanley Community Hospital and the Mountrail Bethel Home.
The Stanley Community Hospital used the money to build the Edna Nelson addition to the hospital that provided Intensive Care facilities and additional rooms to the existing hospital. This addition was completed in the Winter of 1971.
The Mountrail Bethel Home used the money to build the Edna Nelson Addition on the south end of the facility, which contained 16 beds and a commons area. The addition was ready for occupancy in February of 1970 with the dedication held on February 22, 1970. It was later determined that an additional $31,079.00 was needed for architect fees, and A.H. Nelson donated an amount of $31,079.00 to cover those fees.
A.H. Nelson’s son has continued the family tradition of generous donations to the facilities. Gary Nelson, and his wife Jenette, have donated over a half a million dollars to the Mountrail County Medical Center over the years. In doing so, the family has helped fund Phase One of the three construction phases started in 2013 at the facility. This phase included the enclosed ambulance bay, remodel of the ER rooms and nurse’s station and the addition of a CT Scanner Suite. The Ann Nicole Nelson ER was dedicated on May 18th, 2014. The ER has been named after Gary and Jenette’s daughter Ann, who was killed in the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11th, 2001. Gary also continued his father’s legacy by serving on the Stanley Community Hospital board and the Mountrail County Health Foundation board for over 30 years. He retired from the boards in 2016.
