Dorothy Gunn received The Bert Curry Healthy
Community Award awarded by the Hancock Regional Hospital Foundation at a dinner on Friday, Decemeber 14.
The following is her letter of nomination:
If God puts angels upon this earth,
Dorothy Gunn is surely one of them. This quote from Dawn Earlywine summarizes very well
the feelings of the legions of people who have known and/or been cared for by
Dorothy in her sixty years in Hancock County, over fifty of which have included
being a nurse or volunteer at Hancock Regional Hospital.
Dorothy grew up on a small farm near
Roachdale , Indiana
where she acquired her tremendous work ethic by helping on the farm, starting
with milking cows at age seven. After graduating from High School , she
entered the school of nursing at St. Vincent
Hospital in
Indianapolis . Completing her nurse’s
training in 1951, she married a young man she had met at the Indiana State Fair
during her high school years. That young man was Jim Gunn from
Hancock
County and he did all of us a tremendous
favor by bringing Dorothy to our community.
Dorothy and Jim had four children, three boys and one girl, so Dorothy
didn’t work in nursing for ten years. She was contacted by the head nurse
at our hospital in 1961 and asked to come to work which she did. After five
years of general nursing, she moved to the surgery recovery area where she
would remain until her retirement in 2005. She was supervisor of the recovery
area nurses for many years and helped redesign the physical recovery area to
what it is today. Even as a supervisor she insisted on being a working nurse
and many of us have awakened from surgery to see Dorothy’s smiling face
and reassuring words. We knew we were in good hands. Dorothy is one of the
most compassionate individuals any of us will ever meet. During her working
years she was selected as the outstanding nurse of the year by the physicians,
won the Vocational Service Award from the Greenfield Rotary Club in 2001and
honorable mention(third place) in the Indianapolis Star’s Salute to
Nurses in 2003. Upon her retirement, the hospital established an annual award
in Dorothy’s name for excellence in nursing.
Shirley Torok who worked in Recovery with Dorothy for fifteen years had
the following comments. Dorothy led by example and had the total trust of
physicians, patients and co-workers. The patients received excellent care. The atmosphere in which the recovery room team worked
with Dorothy as leader made that an idyllic time. They affectionately called
her “Mother Gunn”. Patients planning to have elective
surgery were known to postpone surgery until Dorothy returned from vacation.
Some children waking from surgery would find Dorothy saying, “come to
Grandma” and they felt secure in her arms. Dorothy’s co-workers
witnessed her remarkable compassion because Dorothy demonstrated it in and out
of the hospital. A nurse’s aide developed a serious illness and
couldn’t work anymore. Dorothy visited her regularly and took food and
financial support until her death.
Sandy McClarnon was a patient who was so impressed with “the kind
voice, gentle face and loving care” as Dorothy cared for her that she
sent Dorothy a thank you card. Many years later,
Sandy took her mother to the hospital for
tests and was met by Dorothy with a smile and a wheelchair.
Sandy wasn’t at all surprised to learn
Dorothy was now a volunteer. Sandy
felt that was “soooo Dorothy”.
Sandy ’s conclusion is that ”This world is a better place because Dorothy
Gunn is in it”.
Dorothy’s hospital volunteer activities extend far beyond the
Information Desk. She has been:
A member of the Guild since 2006
A Women Helping Women committee member for eight years
Foundation Golf Outing for three years
Foundation Motorcycle Run for Breast Cancer for three years.
She has accumulated over 2500 hours
of volunteer time in the relatively short period of her retirement.
She is also active outside the hospital. She has been a Relay for Life
committee member for 4 years, nursery teacher for her church for twenty years,
camp nurse for Brownie scouts, worked with Toys for Tots, supported the Upward
Basketball program in her church and is a member of Friends of the Library.
Dorothy is a valued and active member of the Kiwanis Club of
Greenfield and delivers Meals on Wheels to
local residents. She has been a member and officer of the Shorthorn Cattle
Ladies Association. She and husband Jim are highly revered icons at the
Hancock
County 4-H Fair.
Dorothy Gunn spent forty three and one half years working as a nurse
and nursing supervisor at Hancock
Regional Hospital .
It has been estimated that Dorothy cared for approximately 2000 patients per
year average. Those 87,000 patients received superb care from Dorothy and her associates.
Her positive impact on her friends and cohorts and upon the good name of
Hancock
Regional Hospital
is impossible to quantify but is tremendous. There can be no question that
Hancock
County is a much healthier, kinder, more
compassionate place to live because of Dorothy Gunn. The Kiwanis Club of
Greenfield is extremely
proud to nominate Dorothy Gunn for the Bert Curry Healthy Community Award.
