March 5, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The LCMC Endowment Fund announces the completion of their history book project - “Medicine in the
Mountains – The Remarkable Storied History of Health Care in Lake City”.
The book tells the story of health care delivery in the Lake City area from its humble beginnings in 1875
to the present day. The stories and information are from interviews with prominent area figures and
characters that have been instrumental in the development of health care services in the Lake City area.
The book describes the early boom-town caregivers, how the Lake City Area Medical Center started in
the 1970s, the people that made it happen, and how the volunteers and generous supporters made a
difference. It is dedicated to the thousands of people who have given time, energy and money to help
make local, quality health care available.
In the Foreword of the book, Ruthanna Hall observes that “Lake City people care. It is a requirement for
living in this wonderful community. In the early 1970s everyone in Lake City was well aware of the need
for medical services – the question was how to acquire them. This book tells that story.”
Stories and photos came from interviews with Ray Blaum, Erin Cavit, Dr. Beuford Durmon, Jerry Gray,
Rosemary Gentry, Ruthanna Hall, Grant Houston, Bob Maurer, Dan Milski, Kathy and Jack Moseley, Mark
Moseley, Elaine Sabyan, Dr. Jay Wolkov, and Nancy Zeller. The research, design, and writing team from
Welborn & Associates of Gunnison included Beth Marcue, David and Carol Primus, and Janice Welborn.
“A tremendous amount of the facts, stories and photos came from the Silver World archives, and for
that we are very grateful to Grant Houston. We couldn’t have produced such a comprehensive and
interesting chronicle without his gracious support and help” said Bernie Krystyniak, a member of the
Endowment Fund Board of Directors.
The book is available to donors and supporters of the LCMC Endowment Fund, which is a local 501(c)(3)
organization. The Endowment was formed in 1996 by a dedicated group of local citizens lead by Nancy
Zeller, and included Marvin Berry, Darrylin Coleman, Laurian Harshman, Paul Hudgeons, and John Marx.
It was focused solely on the mission of assuring the financial stability in perpetuity of the Lake City Area
Medical Center. That is now expanded to the broader scope of the Moseley Health Care Complex, which
is owned and managed by the Lake Fork Health Service District.
“The spirit of support and volunteerism is a common theme throughout the book. To keep this spirit
alive, we encourage everyone to choose a way to increase the Endowment Fund to meet our goal of
$2,000,000” said Nancy Zeller, Endowment Fund President. Nancy continued in describing the most
common ways to support the Fund growth as “mail a check now and again before the year ends, visit
our new website and use the online donation function, include us in your will and estate planning, or
sponsor a specific item for the clinic. “
Zeller adds as a reminder that “since Hinsdale County is 96% public lands, the tax base that supports the
Health District is small. Many times private donors fill the gap in funding those important and critical
needs for the clinic through their support of the Endowment Fund. The book will be given as an
expression of our appreciation for every donation of $200 or more. It will be on display at several
events we have planned this year. The first such event will be the Health Fair at the clinic in May”.
The core funding of the book project was attained by a grant from the Nichols Foundation through Lake
City seasonal resident and frequent supporter of local charities, Kathy Moseley, along with some local
donors.
The new Endowment website is www.LCMCEndowmentFund.org. The Endowment Board of Directors
include Nancy Zeller, Linny Ramundo, Dr. Beuford Durmon, Linda Downs, Fred Stapleton, and Bernie
Krystyniak.
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