Christmas spirit is in abundance at Pocahontas Memorial Hospital this season. In recent years, hospital staff and aPMH Staff and Board with just a few of the gifts collected at the Annual Christmas Dinnerdministration have made a renewed effort to engage in and support the community that has sustained them for over one hundred years.

Upon hearing that local food pantries were experiencing shortages this fall, staff organized an employee bake-off to collect canned food items and money. Over one hundred dollars and seventy pounds of food were collected and donated to the Pocahontas County Cooperative Parish Food Pantry and the Harvest House just in time for Thanksgiving.

During the month of December, staff contributed toys to not one, but two, toy drives to benefit Pocahontas County children. In what has become a hospital tradition, everyone was encouraged to bring a toy for the Family Resource Network’s Project Christmas instead of exchanging gifts at the annual employee Christmas dinner. Throughout the month, PMH also served as a collection site for the Cass Toy Drive and a trip by the conference room revealed an overflowing collection box of toys.

While following a school bus home one cold day in November Valarie Monico, a PMH Rural Health Clinic provider, observed a child getting off the bus without a coat on. Not wanting any cMissy Doss, MMS Guidance Counselor and Valarie Monico, RHC Physician’s Assistant show off the coats donated to MMS.hild to have to go without a coat this winter, four health care providers in the Clinic pooled money to purchase two coats for each school in the county. Coats were distributed to schools in early December in hopes that they would all find homes before true winter weather arrives.

For such a small facility, the spirit shown by Pocahontas Memorial Hospital staff would rival that of a much larger facility. PMH does not just want to serve the members of the community; it wants to be a member of the community.