Robert Ringo
Robert Ringo has lived in the mid-Willamette Valley for 60 years. Needless to say, he’s seen a lot of change and a lot of growth. Moving to the area in 1951 to work as an attorney, he represented families from across our region and thus became very interested in their welfare — especially the quality of medical care they received.
“I worked with families from all over Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties — a lot of on-the-job injury cases and things like that,” Ringo said. “And I was always confident in the care they would receive at Good Sam.”
Ringo became very involved with the hospital, eventually working with other community leaders to establish the Samaritan Health Services system. As he has watched our communities grow, he has become passionate about ensuring that Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center grows along with them, providing the emergency and critical care that all of us eventually depend on at some point in our lives.
“There are two things that really matter in a community,” he said. “The schools and the hospitals. I’m really pleased with the way Good Sam has served our area over the years, and I just want to make sure it keeps doing that.”
For this reason, Ringo agreed to lead the capital campaign in support of enhanced critical care services at the hospital. The hospital foundation agreed to raise $2 million toward the $40 million project to double the capacity of the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit as well as provide additional inpatient rooms and services. The expansion is vitally needed, as Good Sam has seen more than a 50-percent increase in trauma cases, to 300 a year, since 2002.
Ringo himself was a major contributor to the campaign, and he’s happy to know that when people from our tri-county area need the regional medical center, it will be there for them.
“Like most people, I’ve had occasion to use the emergency room myself,” he laughed. “So I know how important this expansion is. It makes me proud to know that families in future generations will use it.”