St. Mary's Hospital Auxilian Receives Statewide Recognition as Volunteer of the Year

Rogers, AR (October 17, 2007) - Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas is pleased to announce that Rona Stufflebeam has been named Volunteer of Year for hospitals with more than 100 beds by the Arkansas Hospital Auxiliary Association.

Stufflebeam received the award earlier this month when the AHAA met in Little Rock.

"This is a huge honor," Donna Beaver, Mercy's Volunteer Manager, said. "Rona is truly an asset to St. Mary's Hospital Auxiliary. She gives so much of herself and inspires others simply by example."

There are approximately 8,000 volunteers in Arkansas and only one volunteer from the entire state is chosen for hospitals with less than 100 beds and one for hospitals with more than 100 beds."

Stufflebeam has been a fixture in the Auxiliary since 1999. Currently serving as the group's treasurer, she spends untold hours reconciling gift shop money, making deposits, balancing checkbooks and providing reports for the Auxiliary board. Relentlessly thorough, she is not satisfied until all is correct. All told, Stufflebeam has logged nearly 5,000 volunteer hours at St. Mary's Hospital.

The St. Mary's Hospital Auxiliary consists of 205 dedicated volunteers, who raise money for the hospital, as well as scholarships for employees and high school students, through St. Mary's Gift Shop, handmade arts and crafts by talented members of the Auxiliary, and various fundraisers throughout the year.

Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas, a not-for-profit faith-based health system, provides healthcare services to residents in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. The System includes St. Mary's Hospital, The Gardens at Osage Terrace Assisted Living Facility and Mercy Medical Clinics in 22 locations throughout northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. The new medical campus at Interstate 540 and New Hope Road in southwest Rogers is slated for completion in January 2008. It will include a 350,000-square-foot medical center with 200 beds and a medical office building to accommodate 90 physicians.