Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf 2020 Event Cancelled

Dear Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf Sponsors,

We are sincerely grateful for your continued support of the Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf event. A special thank you to everyone who has donated additional funds to the Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf Emergency Fund, supporting the efforts of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center to battle this unprecedented global pandemic.

At the start of the pandemic, we optimistically rescheduled our event for September 17, 2020. As our state’s cases continue to climb, and out of an abundance of caution for everyone’s safety, we feel it best to cancel the event for 2020.

The Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf Executive Committee made an early financial distribution to St. Joseph’s to assist with the emergent needs due to COVID-19. Here are just a few of the many needs at the hospital that have incurred extraordinary costs related to the pandemic:

• Purchase of full-body temperature detectors, used to ensure that no one enters the hospital who may compromise our patients or employees
• Purchase of additional ECMO machines, highly advanced heart-and-lung life-support systems that are used to save lives in the most severe patient cases
• Various forms of research related to COVID-19, for the benefit of our hospital community as well as to contribute the nation’s body of knowledge surrounding this mysterious virus
• On-site campus testing for all employees and patients showing signs of disease
• Special equipment for the emergency room, to ease imaging stress and discomfort related to the virus
• Extensive purchasing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline caregivers

In addition to how emergency fund dollars are being spent, we are proud to share what our amazing physician-leaders at Barrow and St. Joseph’s have accomplished in innovation since the onset of this pandemic:

• Development of N95 mask 3D-printing technology, shared over the Internet so that hospitals and manufacturers around the world can benefit and build their own inventory of masks  (https://www.barrowneuro.org/get-to-know-barrow/barrow-innovation-center-2/3d-printed-n95-mask/)
• Design of reusable/washable and urgently needed FDA-approved medical gowns (https://www.dignityhealth.org/arizona/locations/arizonageneral/about-us/news/dignity-health-in-arizona-designs-innovative-and-reusable-fabric-isolation-gowns)
• Manufacture of specialized intubation stations designed to provide extra protection to caregivers while treating patients on ventilators

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, including Barrow Neurological Institute, has implemented the following to ensure the safety and health of patients, caregivers and all hospital employees:

• Temperature checks at all hospital entries, including clinics, imaging, outpatient surgery and labor and delivery
• Required masks to be worn by employees, patients and guests at all times on campus
• Maintains a minimum 30-day inventory of PPE for employees on hand at all times
• Prohibits visitors on campus with the exception of one guest accompanying surgical patients for limited time
• Incident Command Center established to provide central location for all critical leadership to work together, ensuring that communications and rapid response capabilities are in place
• Contingency plan created to provide 150% surge in patient bed capacity as needed

As you can see from the above referenced items, St. Joseph’s and Barrow are hard at work protecting us and our loved ones during this most challenging of times. We ask that you reach out to us if you would like to receive a reimbursement for your 2020 sponsorship, but hope that you will consider this year’s sponsorship as a special one-time gift to support the unprecedented needs at the hospital to fight COVID-19—keeping caregivers safe as they work tirelessly to restore health and save lives of patients afflicted by this relentless pandemic.

Until the 48th Annual Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf in 2021, we pray for health, safety, good friends and great golf to our loyal community of supporters.

With continued appreciation,

The Lou Grubb Friends Fore Golf Executive Committee