In 2006, three years after SPMH closed and in anticipation of the reopening of the hospital under the auspices of the Ventura County Medical Center, the foundation board changed the organization’s name and expanded its mission to include a new commitment to supporting a broader range of health care initiatives for the growing cities of Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru. But the now Santa Paula Hospital remains a focus of the foundation’s giving.“I think we understand more how important the hospital is once we lost it,” noted Garfield. “I don’t think people thought about it too much before then, they just took it for granted. And when it wasn’t there, all of a sudden they had to go 15 to 20 miles to Ventura,” including for emergency medical care such as a heart attack and other life-threatening illnesses. “It’s vital for the people of this valley, especially those in Fillmore and Piru, to get to the hospital, and this hospital is vitally important to all of us.”Garfield said he and family members have been treated at the facility, “emergencies to surgeries... and the hospital did a very, very good job.” The medical and support staff, he noted, are both efficient and caring, “not only for the patient, but also for the family.”Tickets for Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation’s “We’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You: Celebrate the Season” are $100 each. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Garfield at 320-6254 or Marsha Rae at 525-0633.
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Jim Garfield, Event Chair, Harold Edwards, C.E.O. Limoneira, and title sponsor of the Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation gala, and Patty Williams, Auction Chair. |
Elvis is back in the building: A ‘Blue Christmas’ if you miss S.C. Valley Wellness Foundation gala
November 26, 2008
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesElvis Presley sang “It’ll be a blue Christmas without you,” and although the cultural icon permanently left the building more than 30 years ago, you can relive the days of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and help Santa Paula Hospital at a special holiday celebration. The Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation (SCVWF) will be holding a gala event December 5, “We’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You: Celebrate the Season” at the Oxnard Marriott Courtyard Hotel.Headlining the party is Raymond Michael, who will perform his world-famous Elvis Presley tribute in an hour-long concert packed with top Presley tunes and plenty of The King’s signature moves. Rock ‘n’ roll industry icon Dick Clark said Michael is the best Elvis impressionist ever, from his dark good looks to the rich, strong singing voice identical to Presley’s.“I remember when Raymond sang at the Centennial celebration,” said then Santa Paula Mayor Jim Garfield, a SCVWF director and chairman of the December 5 dinner/auction. “Raymond’s wife was expecting and pretty far along,” and Garfield said she told her husband that if she went into labor and had to be taken to the then-Santa Paula Memorial Hospital during his concert, “don’t come up there in your pink suit with rhinestones!”The “Celebrate the Season” event will also feature a Silent Auction that features, among other goodies, vacation getaways, original fine artwork, and handmade quilts, as well as a Live Auction limited to no more than 10 must-have items. “We have some really nice things this year, including an exciting surprise Live Auction item” that will remain a surprise, though Garfield promised it affords “a once in a lifetime, beyond your wildest imagination opportunity.”Of course, the celebration has a serious side: all proceeds will benefit the foundation, which has purchased more than $300,000 for Santa Paula Hospital. “Primarily, what we do is raise money to buy equipment for the hospital” that Garfield said the Ventura County Medical Center is unable to afford.“We have a contract with the county that what is purchased for Santa Paula Hospital stays at Santa Paula Hospital... and the foundation has purchased $317,000 of equipment so far.” The SCVWF is an outgrowth of the Santa Paula Memorial Hospital Foundation.
