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Marilyn and Gary Peacock looked through the certificates being awarded to recipients of the inaugural Changing Lives Through Healthcare scholarships early this spring. The Peacocks have been instrumental in supporting the endowment.
Lynda Helton, Smyth County Community Foundation executive director, and Gary Peacock, of the Smyth County Community Hospital Health Trust, gave out the inaugural Changing Lives Through Healthcare scholarships this spring.
Dale Clark, Smyth County Community Hospital CEO, is working with the endowment partners to develop a mentoring program for scholarship recipients.
This fall, seven Smyth County women will pursue education for healthcare careers with the help of the inaugural Changing Lives Through Healthcare scholarships. Among those women are new high school grads, a wife and mother who’s changing careers, and another woman who wants to follow her grandmother footsteps by becoming a nurse.
This spring, the Smyth County Community Hospital Health Trust and the Smyth County Community Foundation awarded those first scholarships, which totaled about $10,000.
Gary Peacock, a longtime advocate for this region’s health care and a member of the Smyth County Community Hospital Health Trust, said that next year they plan to double that amount, awarding $20,000 to $25,000 in scholarships. Ultimately, he said, the goal is to award $40,000 in these grow-your-own healthcare workers scholarships.
Repeatedly, Peacock, Smyth County Community Hospital (SCCH) CEO Dale Clark, and other healthcare experts around the country have noted the impact of healthcare worker shortages that extend from hospitals to physician offices to long-term care facilities.
Clark said the shortage has been acute for four to five years. In one scenario, he said, that shortage impacts patients waiting in the emergency room because of insufficient staff for the needed beds.
Lynda Helton, the Community Foundation’s executive director, said that ongoing conversations explore how to solve the problem locally.
The Health Trust, a subsidiary of Ballad Health Foundation, had long worked to bolster the health and wellness of the community’s residents. Over the last 12 to 13 years, the organization raised nearly $800,000, which stayed in Smyth County. About $300,000 helped fund a local infusion center for cancer patients and others who need the treatment. The Health Trust also funded diagnostic equipment to improve cancer care and eye care. It also sponsored health camps for youngsters, after-school projects, a playground and other equipment for children with disabilities, a baseball diamond and other endeavors. It was also instrumental in bringing urgent care services to the county.
Homegrown Care Providers
However, since the COVID pandemic, Peacock said the greatest healthcare need has been workers. The health trust has shifted its focus to a legacy program that would create homegrown healthcare staffers.
In partnership with the Community Foundation, he said, the non-profits set up requirements for the scholarships, including that recipients must live in Smyth County for at least two years after earning their degree and be committed to developing a healthcare career.
In addition, Peacock said they approached SCCH and asked them to help with a mentoring program that will help the students celebrate successes and encourage them through difficult occasions. With money and mentors, he said, “We’re changing lives through the Healthcare Scholarships.”
Through the endowment, Peacock said, the non-profits will be able to help residents who want to work in healthcare to get an education without taking on significant debt.
The organizations have also connected with Ballad Health, which includes SCCH, about ultimately hiring the scholarship recipients who successfully complete their training.
Helton called the endeavor to establish the endowment profound. While challenges still exist, she described the program as a win-win for students and the community.
When new businesses are considering locating in a community, Peacock said, the status of healthcare is a concern. As well, it’s a concern for individuals. Whether a person is a senior citizen or a mother with a child, “we all want good healthcare,” he concluded.
Peacock believes SCCH does offer good care.
He noted that when the new hospital was opened in 2012, Smyth County was the only small community in the United Sates that built a hospital that year or the previous year. He believes being part of a larger organization, Ballad, has made a critical difference in SCCH’s ability to move forward.
Peacock also pointed to SCCH receiving five-star ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for five consecutive years.
While a person can’t get brain surgery or a heart transplant here, Peacock said, individuals do receive basic quality care and, if needed, can get transferred to a facility where they can get more advanced care.
Gift of Love
To firmly establish the endowment, the two non-profits want to raise a million dollars. They’re more than halfway there thanks to sizeable gift from Peacock and his wife, Marilyn.
Last year, as the Health Trust was preparing for a fundraising event, Peacock acknowledged, “We know that’s a big goal.”
Stepping up, the Community Foundation agreed to match every dollar raised for the endowment up to $250,000.
Earlier this year, Gary and Marilyn decided to push the endowment closer to the million-dollar mark.
They owned two houses in Marion. According to Marilyn, Gary undertook much of the rehab and rebuilding of the homes. “It was a labor of love,” she said.
That labor of love became a gift of love. The Peacocks donated the homes to the Community Foundation to be sold with the proceeds going to the endowment.
The properties sold within a matter of months. They were bought by a couple who are living in one home and renting the other. In a sweet turn, the wife is studying at Emory & Henry’s School of Health Sciences, pursuing her own healthcare education.
The gift took the endowment to more than $600,000.
Helton wants other people to know that if they have property that could be donated and agree with the endowment’s mission that gifting it to the program is a good option.
Helton is not shy about asking, “Will you support us?”
Anyone who is interested, Gary said, can contact him, Helton, or any Health Trust board member.
Gifts are welcome anytime. As well, the Community Foundation will host a fundraising Luau at the Lake in August and the Health Trust expects to host a fundraising gala on Feb. 15, 2025.
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Before the inaugural healthcare scholarships were awarded, recipients heard from Dale Clark, Smyth County Community Hospital’s CEO. Clark, who…
Marilyn and Gary Peacock looked through the certificates being awarded to recipients of the inaugural Changing Lives Through Healthcare scholarships early this spring. The Peacocks have been instrumental in supporting the endowment.
Lynda Helton, Smyth County Community Foundation executive director, and Gary Peacock, of the Smyth County Community Hospital Health Trust, gave out the inaugural Changing Lives Through Healthcare scholarships this spring.
Dale Clark, Smyth County Community Hospital CEO, is working with the endowment partners to develop a mentoring program for scholarship recipients.

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