Welcome to Your (New) Hospital - Bartlett Regional Hospital

S • P • O • T • L • I • G • H • T
Setting the Standard
Bartlett Beginnings, the hospital’s OB
department, was recognized during
the Juneau Health Summit this spring
for its “Contribution to the Health of
Mothers and Babies.” The award was
extended to the entire nursing staff for
setting the standard for community
wellness organizations in the category
of nutrition for breastfeeding.
Debi Ballam, RN, and Lactation Consultant
at Bartlett Hospital for many
years, who has taken the lead in promoting
the benefits of mothers’ milk,
said the hospital’s nursing staff goes
the extra mile. “We do an excellent job,”
says Ballam. “The staff works very hard
to support and promote breastfeeding.”
The statistics support Ballam’s assertion.
Ninety-three percent of infants
born at Bartlett are breastfed compared
to a national rate of about 74%.
It is well known among healthcare professionals
that children who breastfed
have lower rates of childhood obesity,
infections, diabetes, and cancer, among
enjoying many other benefits. But this
just in: a new study has determined that
breastfeeding protects mothers from
high blood pressure and heart disease
later in life.
As Ballam is fond of saying: “After loving
your baby, breastfeeding is the next
best thing.”
Thank you, Charlotte Richards…
Whether as a member of its original board or as overseer of day-to-day operations
as its executive director, through the years Charlotte Richards has
played an indispensable role in the development of the Bartlett Hospital Foundation.
She was there in 1992 when the articles of incorporation were filed to create
the Foundation, took over as its executive director in 1999 in time to help coordinate
the opening of Bartlett House, the hospital’s short-term stay facility, and was
instrumental in the Board’s efforts to raise more than $200,000 dollars to build the
Reifenstein Dialysis Center.
In praising a fellow foundation board member a few years ago, Richards remarked
that “the generosity of thoughtful people measures the worth of a community.”
Juneau is much the richer community thanks to the contributions of Charlotte Richards.
Thank you, Charlotte–for everything!
… And welcome, Michelle Shaw Wilson
When Michelle Wilson moved to Juneau on April 1, 1992, she did so to work at
KJNO-KTKU; not necessarily to be a mom, t-ball and soccer coach, start the
Great Alaskan Tour Drive… or run a foundation. Yet the Billings, MT native, who
was raised in Jackson Hole and San Francisco, can look back on almost two decades
in Juneau and a career path that led to her current position as the new executive
director of the Bartlett Regional Hospital Foundation.
During her first Christmas season with the radio stations,
Wilson started the Great Alaskan Toy Drive with
the Alaska Army National Guard. Now a holiday fixture,
the Drive continues to distribute more than 1,000
toys annually to those in need.
In early 2008, long-time executive director of the
Bartlett Foundation, Charlotte Richards, resigned to
move with her husband to Southcentral Alaska to be
closer to their grandchildren. The board hired Michelle
Wilson a few months later.
Wilson is planning to use her experience working with
Juneau’s private and public sectors to continue the
Foundation’s community outreach.
Among her many duties, she supervises The Blue Heron Gift Store, located in the
Hospital’s (new) main lobby. The Blue Heron opened on November 10, 2008 and
directly benefits the Foundation Fund.
Raising money for the Foundation is Wilson’s main task. Her success will be measured
by the leaves adorning the gifting trees of the “Memorial Donor Forest” that
can be seen opposite the elevators in the newly renovated main hallway at the Hospital.
Each major donor ($1,000+) rates an inscribed leaf.
HouseCalls — 10