The Spirit of Giving Lives On
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Pictured left to right are Deborah Soliah, MeritCare Foundation Executive Director; Mary Jancek, Bea Ricke, and Deb Matthews, all of Team Industries; and Dr. Roger Gilbertson, MeritCare President and CEO.Spirit of Giving: The Ricke Family
As a patient at MeritCare in the 1990s, Don Ricke mentioned to his physician that MeritCare used too much paper. Don was a problem solver and thought there was a more efficient way to do the work. Dr. John Leitch connected Don and his family to the MeritCare Foundation. Through his generosity, Don helped to make the electronic patient record (EPR) a possibility. Being from Bagley, MN, the Ricke family was happy to see that the EPR saw its inauguration at MeritCare Bemidji. That was the beginning of a partnership between Don's family, the company he and his wife, Bea built – TEAM Industries and MeritCare Health System in supporting healthcare in the region. Don wanted MeritCare to work smarter for better patient care and he saw technology as the tool to make that happen.
Don and Bea instilled their spirit of giving into their children and their company. To keep their spirit of giving going, TEAM Foundation was created and MeritCare has been fortunate to be one of the recipients of their generosity. Their children all have a connection to MeritCare: daughter Deb Matthews serves as the executive director of the TEAM Foundation and has served on the MeritCare Foundation Board, daughter Mary Jancek worked as a nurse at MeritCare and son David is the president of TEAM Industries. All have supported MeritCare through technology purchases to help MeritCare better serve families throughout the region.
"My dad," says Deb, "always felt that when life was good to you, when you'd been richly blessed, that you must turn around and give something back. He believed you give back to your community to help not just a few people, but as many as possible". As we celebrate our centennial, MeritCare would like to express gratitude to the Ricke family and TEAM Foundation for their spirit of giving.