Tiffany Asher, [email protected]
ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING — The Memorial Hospital Foundation was able to host their annual Red Tie Gala in person for the first time in three years. The event was held on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Sweetwater Events Complex. Before the event was even held, it was sold out. The Red Tie Gala had a total of 500 seats, all of which were filled during the event. This included tickets for the CanAm raffle and the Red Tie Gala event itself. Those that were not able to attend could still bid online for the silent auction.
Though there have been some issues with reconciling some of the online auctions due to technical difficulties, the numbers for this year’s Red Tie Gala are already record-breaking. Currently, the reconciled event number is $193,173, which has exceeded the event goal of $175,000.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, Tiffany Marshall said, “The money raised is going to the Greatest Needs Fund to support the daVinci Robot. The TV upgrade project is still in its testing phase with our IT Department.” There should be updates soon about where they are in this phase.
Currently, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County is looking to buy one of the daVinci robots, which cost around $2.5 million. “It will be the only surgical assist robot in Sweetwater County which is pretty cool,” Marshall added. A daVinci Robot was on display during the Gala for the community to see. The Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, along with the Foundation, is working to bring a surgical robotics program to Sweetwater County. According to the initial press release, “The daVinci Robot is truly the next level of care,” said Matthew Jackman, the Foundation’s President. “We are really excited about the opportunity to financially support this purchase.”
The Foundation also presented information on other projects currently in the works, including the patient television upgrade program and a potential laboratory renovation project. “We are currently working towards funding the robot and then the next project we will work on is the Laboratory expansion/remodel. That is a huge $8.7 million that I’ve been working on since last August. It is a grant-funded project with matching funds from the Commission as well as the Foundation,” Marshall stated.
Marshall finished by saying, “It was a great night and I’m so happy that we are able to get back to in-person events. We were excited to celebrate our local healthcare heroes and raise money to improve our local healthcare. We definitely could not have hit that mark without the support of our community, sponsors, and volunteers. We had some new volunteer groups this year including Rock Springs’ hockey team the Rock Springs Prospectors, BNI members, and the Unknown Saints. We also had some returning volunteer groups including the Bitter Sweet Bombshells, high school students, hospital staff, and the Western Wyoming Wrestling Team. We really wouldn’t have had such a successful night without our amazing volunteers.”
