Fremont-Rideout Health Group: A History Steeped in Giving

Community giving is in the DNA of Fremont-Rideout Health Group (FRHG). It began in 1907 when Phebe Rideout donated her family's 4,000-square foot mansion to provide a desperately needed public hospital for the residents of Yuba City and Marysville. In 1908 the hospital accepted its first patient. And since Rideout Memorial Hospital (RMH) merged with Fremont Medical Center (FMC) in 1983, the organization's community involvement and support has continued to grow.

FRHG is the leading health care group in the Yuba-Sutter area, as well as its largest employer. Nowhere is FRHG's relationship with the community stronger than in its emergency department: More than 55,000 people visit the emergency department at Rideout Memorial Hospital every year, making it the go-to care facility for residents of Yuba City, Marysville and Southern Butte County. Across the bridge in Yuba City, FRHG's new Urgent Care facility serves patients with non-life-threatening urgent medical issues.

The organization recognizes the needs of the community it serves and consistently strives to provide assistance where it can. That aid takes many forms, from direct financial contributions to providing essential services to donating volunteer hours. Perhaps the most significant portion of Fremont-Rideout's contribution comes in the form of services it provides with no compensation: in fiscal year 2008-2009, FMC and RMH combined provided more than $30 million in unreimbursed care to its neighbors.

One of the beneficiaries of FRHG's charitable giving programs is Pink October, a coordinated group of events created to raise money and awareness of breast cancer through Geweke's Caring for Women Foundation. FRHG has been involved with Pink October since its inception 12 years ago.

"FRHG has been in our corner on Pink October since day one," says Larry Geweke, president and owner of the Geweke Auto Group in Yuba City and chairman of the board of Geweke's Caring for Women Foundation. "They were the very first health group to step up and partner with us. We have a lot of respect for them and are very grateful for all that they do to support Pink October and make it as successful as it has been."

In addition to sponsoring the Yuba Sutter Race For Awareness 5k run, Fremont-Rideout Health Group also provides low-cost mammograms to women in October every year. Hundreds of women have taken advantage of this generosity.

Terri Gardiepy can attest to the depth of FRHG's dedication to local, community-based needs. "The American Cancer Society and The Fremont-Rideout Health Group have enjoyed a long relationship in which we have collaborated to make our community aware of cancer prevention and the importance of early detection of cancer," explains Gardiepy of American Cancer Society's Marysville field office. "The Fremont-Rideout Health Group has been a valuable partner in the fight against cancer. Through their continued sponsorship of the American Cancer Society's annual Daffodil Day Campaign and Relay For Life, more lives have been saved from this dreaded disease."

FRHG has also given the organization office space free of charge for the last 11 years and provided meeting rooms for the group's Look Good Feel Better Program and Man-to-Man Prostate Support Group. Such outstanding support enables the American Cancer Society to provide services to patients, offer education programs, and fund cancer research. "Together we've made a difference in the lives of many cancer patients and their families," Gardiepy added.

Jackie Sillman and her husband Lynn have owned and operated The Upholstery Hut in Yuba City for 35 years, and their involvement with Fremont-Rideout Health Group extends back at least that many years. Jackie is also the recycling coordinator and public relations officer at Recology Yuba-Sutter, a waste disposal company that serves more than 43,000 residential customers and 3,500 commercial customers. Like FRHG, the Sillmans understand the need to keep financial contributions local, because when those funds stay in the community they help not only the families and individuals who need them, they help the local economy as well.

"FRHG has been involved in the success of many events that meet needs not just in healthcare but in schools and businesses, too," Jackie Sillman explained. "Recology raises money to provide students at all eight of our local high schools with a safe and drug- and alcohol-free graduation night celebration, and FRHG has been involved from the beginning as a major sponsor of our fundraising event."

In addition to the good works of the Fremont-Rideout Health Group, the Fremont-Rideout Foundation provides additional support to many critical community needs. Its most recent goal-initiative is to purchase approximately twelve wireless EKG monitoring machines for area ambulances. These wireless monitors will help save lives. "The Fremont-Rideout Foundation is the only local non-profit entity that raises money locally and puts all of it directly back into the community," explained Carol Ramirez, vice president, marketing and community relations and the foundation. "We're proud of that, and we're constantly looking for more ways to be involved and to help."