Dorothy Gunn Receives Burt Curry Award

 

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.