Memorial Health’s five hospital foundations will receive a portion of $85,000 from the proceeds of the 2022 Memorial Health Championship Korn Ferry Golf Tournament held at Panther Creek Golf Course in Springfield last year.
The tournament, seen by many golfing insiders as one of the stops for the PGA’s “minor leagues,” is in its 8th year and has been growing annually. 2021 Memorial Health Championship winner Taylor Moore got his first win on the PGA Tour this year and teed off in the Masters on Thursday morning. Moore along with 19 other PGA players have played the Memorial Health Championship in the past and are currently shooting in the Masters this weekend.
The charitable arm of the tournament is providing direct local impact to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital and the Jacksonville Memorial Hospital Foundation. Pam Martin of the JMH Foundation says that JMH’s portion of the money is going directly towards helping memorial colleagues: “We have added that money to the other pool of funds from donors in the Jacksonville area. We have been able to fund colleagues that are advancing their careers through certifications as well as degrees. We are very excited that the trustees, as we reach out to donors, we can connect them with a very meaningful way of helping our hospital by securing the work force and adding to their skills.”
One of the colleagues that directly benefited from the JMH Foundation was American Sign Language Interpreter Randa Freeze-Rhea who is pursuing her master’s degree in health care interpreting from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Freeze-Rhea says she’s almost completed her advanced degree that’s provided her some critical insight on how to best serve patients and her fellow colleagues at JMH: “[The financial assistance] has enable me to get extensive training on ethics, language terminology, and how to best match interpreters whether they are patients or deaf professionals. It has also helped me direct them to assistance if they might have other language and communication needs in addition to just sign language.”
Officials for the Korn Ferry Tour, the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance all said yesterday in a special press conference that they expect the event to grow in size again this year. The tournament has brought in an average of 20-25% from people beyond a 50-mile radius of Springfield each year injecting several million dollars into the city’s economy, according to Scott Dahl of the Springfield Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
Official rounds for the tournament run from June 29th to July 2nd. Practice rounds will occur from June 26-28th.
For more information on the tournament, including sponsorship, ticket sales, or volunteer opportunities visits MemorialHealthChampionship.com or call 217-670-2910.