Occupy a place of prominence in the Mountrail County Health Center. This will be a permanent, public recognition of all who contribute. Contributors of $1,000 or more will have their names displayed in the new clinic reception area and/or the new Chapel in the Bethel Home.
Friends, family members and business associates may also be memorialized with naming opportunities throughout the new clinic, ER and Home expansions. Please call the Foundation Director for details.
Donor Recognition Levels
LEGACY CLUB
$250,000 and above
FOUNDERS CLUB
$100,000 – $249,999
BUILDERS
$50,000—$99,999
PATRONS
$25,000—$49,999
CORNERSTONE
$10,000—$24,999
FAMILY & FRIENDS
$5,000—$9,999
SUSTAINING
$1,000—$4,999
The expansion of the clinic at the Mountrail County Medical Center was “open for business” on Monday, May 11th, 2015. The expansion with nine additional exam rooms will allow for more efficient scheduling of the MCMC providers and will provide space for Specialists to come into the clinic.
This beautiful clinic was made possible due to a generous pledge given during the summer of 2014 by the Stanley Community Hospital (SCH) Board that governs the T.H. Reiarson trust. Mr. Reiarson was a life-long farmer, who lived south of Ross. In his Last Will and Testament, he created this trust for the benefit of the Stanley Community Hospital. Mr. Reiarson was specific in his will that the trust be prudently managed by the SCH board and be used solely for improvements and equipment. This trust has been helping with improvements for the hospital since the late 1970s and most recently helped the Mountrail County Medical Center purchase a new Electronic Medical Records system. This new system will improve the entire patient experience throughout the spectrum of their care from the moment they make their appointment until all care has been provided.
In the Fall of 2013, as the Mountrail County Health Foundation was reviewing possible ways to finance the three phases of construction that the Mountrail County Health Center wanted to complete, an interesting discovery was made. Upon a close reading of Mr. Reiarson’s will, they found this statement: “It is my desire and wish that said Trustees shall cause to be erected a new medical clinic building for the hospital and if the Trustees shall so concur, shall be known as the Reiarson Clinic.” When Mr. Reiarson created this Trust and stated the above, he more than likely had no idea that the Trust would have the resources to make a commitment at this level. The SCH Board is sure that if he were alive today, Mr. Reiarson would be proud of this new facility, now known as the T.H. Reiarson Rural Health Clinic, which has been built in his honor for the community of Stanley.
To ensure the tradition of outstanding health care for generations to come, a decision was made in 1999 to integrate the existing Stanley Hospital and Mountrail County Bethel Home into a single facility. At that time a $3.5 million Capital Campaign was begun to raise funds to construct this new hospital/clinic/emergency facility. The “When Seconds Count and Quality Matters” campaign had a huge supporter in Ray Rude. In a 1999 interview, he stated that he “hoped the residents in the area understood the importance of looking ahead, understand the changes in healthcare, and will also get behind this important effort and make it successful”. His own personal drive to make this campaign successful showed through when he issued a gracious challenge to the community after making his first donation of $500,000. He matched any donations given to the project after June 19th, 1999, up to a total of $100,000. This generosity from Ray, and the entire community, enabled MCMC to open a state of the art facility in June of 2002. The new structure included the existing clinic and 11-bed acute care hospital with an emergency room. They are located on the Mountrail County Health Center campus along with the Mountrail County Bethel Nursing Home, Centennial Court senior apartments and the Ida Mae Rude Aquatic Center.
Ray felt a commitment to his former community and the future of Stanley and Mountrail County. His desire to see MCMC endure became apparent when in October of 2002 he paid off the building debt for the addition of the new hospital/clinic/ER facility.
Born in 1916, Ray, a former Stanley and Blaisdell native, worked in his family’s business until 1929. At the age of 15, he quit school and left North Dakota. He spent the majority of his life in California and Nevada. A self-made engineer and entrepreneur, he worked as a tool engineer for aircraft companies before he founded Duraflex International Corporation, which today still manufactures Duraflex aluminum diving boards and diving board stands. In 1948, Ray developed an aluminum diving board out of a discarded airplane wing panel. Over the years he refined it to the point that the Maxiflex Model B made by Duraflex is the only diving board used in the Olympics and all international competition. (www.duraflexinternational.com).
Following his retirement from Duraflex and the death of his wife, Ina Mae, he returned to Stanley in 2002. He lived in Centennial Court, the independent living facility attached to the Mountrail County Health Center. In December 2004, at the age of 88 he passed away in the Mountrail County Medical Center for which he felt so passionate.
Ray Rude never wanted any public recognition for his wonderful and gracious philanthropy. Stanley cannot thank him enough for this generosity. His philanthropy not only helped pay for the addition which allows MCMC to be the amazing facility it currently is, but Ray also donated the entire monies to build the Ina Mae Rude Aquatic Center which is attached to MCMC. Ray also set up a Physician Endowment Fund which helps MCMC to recruit quality doctors to the facility.