The Foundation for Knapp Medical Center wishes to thank all those who have so generously contributed to our success this year.

As you look forward to the holidays, please remember The Foundation for Knapp Medical Center in your year-end charitable giving.

Best in Show, Most Creative, Prettiest Entry, Best Cancer Awareness Message, and Best Knapp Dept. Entry — The Wound Center at Knapp — “Lola the Peacock Show Girl”

Best in Show First Runner Up — Weslaco High School Lady Panthers Volleyball — “Diggin it for the Cure”

Best in Show Second Runner Up — Mary & Amber Piña — “Towers of Hope”

Funniest Entry — Linda Souder Ruiz & Robert Ruiz — “Have U Been Squeezed?”

Best Cancer Survivor Entry — Rowena Matiasl – “Pinay”

Thank you to all of this year’s Bras Ending Breast Cancer participants. So far, more than $2,300 has been raised, which will provide screening mammograms for 18 local indigent women. Special thanks to the Weslaco High School Lady Panthers Volleyball team, who will continue to raise money for the cause through October. View all of the entries at http://www.knappmedfoundation.org/bras-ending-breast-cancer. Don’t forget: You can also donate to the cause at any time at https://www.knappmedfoundation.org/ways-to-give/donate-online/

Ms. Wheir has previously held positions as Director of Development and Public Relations for the St. Anthony’s Hospital Foundation in Amarillo, TX; Executive Director of St. Mary’s of Troy Foundation in Troy, NY; Executive Director of Cape Cod Hospital Foundation in Hyannis, MA; Director of the St. John’s Regional Medical Center Foundation Oxnard, CA and the St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital Foundation in Camarillo, CA. Most recently she has served the Director of Development for the Devereux Foundation in Villanova, PA and worked as an Independent Fund Raising Counsel in Houston, TX.

Ms. Wheir received both a B.A. and M.A. in English and Speech from West Texas A&M University. She is a Fellow in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and is a Certified Fundraising Executive by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

As Executive Director, Ms. Wheir will be responsible for providing professional direction and assistance to The Foundation for Knapp Medical Center in organizing and developing a dynamic and effective program to raise funds and to support the mission of Knapp Medical Center.

Helen is looking forward to her move to the Rio Grande Valley. She will begin her duties at the Foundation on August 29, 2011. I know that you will join with me in welcoming Helen Wheir to The Foundation for Knapp Medical Center

This gala auction is the Knapp Medical Center Foundation’s major fundraising special event. For more information or to become a sponsor or item donor click here.

• New monitoring equipment in the Intensive Care Unit for each of the 16 individual patient rooms and a central station at a cost of $400,000
• Six vital signs monitors for the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (Recovery Room) at a cost of $127,583
• Biphasic defibrillators for ICU, Labor & Delivery, E.R., Surgical Unit, GI Lab, Imaging Services and the Medical Unit at a cost of $70,000
• Syringe pumps, to provide minute amounts of medication or food, were purchased at a cost of $22,000 for the Nursery and Pediatrics. Also purchased for the Nursery were a SIPAP for newborns in respiratory distress, phototherapy lights and a newborn isolette for pre-term babies too small for an open crib. All this was made possible through a gift to the Knapp Medical Center Foundation by the Madison Foundation.

Other Knapp Medical Center Foundation grant money purchased:

• Centrifuge for Lab
• Rapid Response curriculum and accessories for Sim Man Training Mannikin
• 2 patient procedure chairs for Wound Care
• Food steamer and charbroiler for Nutrition Services
• 2 large wheelchairs for Postpartum
• Floor cleaning equipment for Environmental Services