Phil Rather award recognizes contributions to community
Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 25, 2006
By Julie Copeland
Mary Boyd doesn't like to ask people for money and she isn't totally comfortable
with public speaking, yet her fundraising results show her method works.
"I hate asking people for money. I really do but somehow I don't necessarily
ask people for money, I just explain the situation and before you know it, they're
giving me money," Boyd, a radiologic technologist at Watsonville Community
Hospital, said.
Boyd is one of two recipients of the 2006 Phil Rather Award for Leadership
in Health Care.
The Central Coast Alliance for Health also was recognized by the Pajaro
Valley Community Health Trust with the award named after its founder.
"These awardees were singled out for recognition this year because they
model the qualities of leadership in health care that reflect the spirit of the
Rather Award and they do so in ways that make them stand out among their peers," said
Edward Din, chair of the board of the Trust.
Boyd was recognized for her volunteer and fundraising leadership with several
health care organizations. The recipients of Boyd's generosity include
the Watsonville Community Hospital's "Employee Friends" program, the American Cancer
Society of Santa Cruz County, Jacob's Heart and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Boyd, 48, is a cancer survivor herself, having beat cervical cancer 28 years ago. And it was a young woman who came to the hospital's emergency room, dying from cervical cancer, that gave her the push to become involved in raising money and awareness about cancer, diabetes and prevention and early detection of the diseases.
"I just thought I have got to do something. What can I do? I'm not a doctor.
I can't research and find a cure for cancer. I'm not rich, but I can talk. I
can tell of the need in the community," Boyd said.
Regardless of the all the work she does, Boyd humbly says the honor "really
belongs to my family, my co-workers and my friends. I talk a good talk but they're
the ones who do the work."
Alan McKay, chief executive officer of the Central Coast Alliance for Health, says the credit for his group's honor goes to all of the people who make it work. The alliance employs 150 people and provides services to 82,000 Santa Cruz County residents, more than 21,000 who live in the Pajaro Valley.
The alliance is a community-based, nonprofit health plan created to provide
high-quality managed health care services for low-income residents of the
community.
The group began in Santa Cruz County in 1996 and three years later expanded
to Monterey County. The alliance has an annual budget of $220 million and
is primarily funded through a contract with the state to operate the local
Medical program. It also operates Healthy Families, Healthy Kids. For information
visit www.ccah-alliance.org.
The Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust created the Phil Rather Award
for Leadership in Healthcare in 1999. The award was inspired by its namesake
and first recipient, Phil Rather, whose volunteer leadership in health
care spanned more than 30 years in the Pajaro Valley. The award recognizes
individuals and/or organizations whose contributions of time, effort or
funding have helped make a difference in the quality of the community's
health care.
The awards will be presented in May.