NMF raises $30,000 in 30 days to help women have gynecologic surgery

Natividad Medical Foundation (NMF)Jul 29 2010

Enough for 12 Surgeries Raised in 30 days!

Specially Designed Onyx Necklace Created To Raise Funds

Natividad Medical Foundation (NMF) President & CEO Linda Ford announced NMF has raised $30,000 in 30 days – enough for about 12 women to have the gynecologic surgery they so desperately need. The announcement is part of the launch of The Onyx Fund for Women – named in honor of a Natividad Medical Center (NMC) patient named Onix who inspired a hospital's doctors and a philanthropic fund.

Onix is mother to a 4-year-old daughter and works full-time as a housekeeper in Carmel, California – a job she has held for 9 years – a job that offers a meager income and no health insurance. Onix is one of our nation's many uninsured "working poor" who do not qualify for financial assistance and do not earn enough to pay for private insurance. When Onix's daughter was born at NMC by C-section, her doctor found moderate size fibroid tumors in her uterus which required surgical removal. Onix, like other uninsured patients, had to pay a $3,000 down payment toward the elective surgery cost before it could be performed. Sadly, Onix "disappeared" for four years.

Ford says, "For the uninsured working poor woman seeking elective surgery to stop bleeding and incontinence, it may be a choice between food and shelter for her family and the down payment for the care she needs. The goal of The Onyx Fund for Women is to support these women in choosing not to delay care so that we can help end their suffering sooner."

After living for years with pain, bleeding and the fear of not being able to care for her daughter or dying, Onix returned to her doctor. She had a mass of tumors that made her look 9 months pregnant. It took Onix another 6 months to earn and borrow the $3,000 for her down payment.

Ford says she was so touched by Onix's story that she created and launched The Onyx Fund for Women so that uninsured women like Onix would not have to suffer for years because they don't have enough money for the required elective surgery down payment.

In April 2010, the Community Foundation for Monterey County awarded a $50,000 2:1 challenge grant to the Natividad Medical Foundation to help generate contributions to The Onyx Fund.