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What an end to a career!
Barney Larry, the former director of the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation, has officially retired after 23 years of service to Baxter Health.
To celebrate his well earned retirement, employees and friends from Baxter Health hosted a farewell reception for Larry on Thursday.
This reception featured light refreshments and opportunities for colleagues, current and former alike, to mingle, share stories about their experiences with Larry throughout the years.
December 30th will also be observed as Barney Larry Day by the City of Mountain Home in honor of his service to community.
A stellar career
Established in 1988, the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation, under John Shutnick, got its start by helping raise $1 million in funds for Baxter Health’s cancer unit.
At the time, the hospital complex was at its peak, bringing in steady profits. But as the years rolled on, the healthcare industry changed, making profit margins smaller for rural hospitals.
With margins slimming, Baxter Health began looking to its hospital foundation in 2000 to help raise money for the hospital’s major projects and programs. To help jump-start the foundation, Baxter Health reached out to Larry, who had just retired as executive vice president for Arkansas and Southern Missouri with the Bank of America.
The grandson of a Baptist preacher, Larry has had a long and unique career. He first began his career as a minister of music at First Baptist Church before transitioning to the banking industry.
He said his grandfather instilled a drive in him that allowed him to quickly rise the ranks in the industry before finally earning his position of executive vice president at Bank of America.
And while he had initially planned on retiring after his tenure as an executive, he couldn’t resist the call to put in a few more years of work at the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation.
But those couple of years quickly turned into a 23-year legacy as Larry fell in love with his role at the foundation.
Under his leadership, Larry and the foundation’s 24 board members quickly set up a yearly fund drive that helped to fund the foundation’s three main funds: the annual fund to cover operational costs, the annual gifts fund to cover capital projects, and a plan giving fund that covered deferred donations to the hospital foundation.
Altogether, the foundation has raised more than $35 million since 2000, with the hospital receiving $27 million of those donations. The foundation currently sits on a comfortable war chest of $20 million with an additional $21 million in deferred donations.
The hospital foundation has helped create several scholarships to assist local students in obtaining a college career and a job in the medical industry. Some of these scholarships include the Kerr Medical Student Scholarship, which covers tuition for students, the Austino Scholarship, which covers school expenses; and the Anderson Downes Scholarship, which covers the expenses of students seeking to become nurses or paramedics.
The Baker Nursing Education Scholarship also covers educational expenses for students pursuing LPN, RN, or BSN degrees.
The hospital foundation has helped complete several renovations and expansion projects at Baxter Health, including the most recent renovation of Baxter Health Auxiliary 5 South Surgical Services, which added six new patient rooms and an expanded waiting room features a dedicated sun-room and “living wall” to the unit.
The foundation has also helped renovate 3 East, 2 West, the hospital’s Cardiac Rehab Center, the Emergency Center, and the Women’s and Newborn Center.
The hospital’s Simulation Lab, where Mountain Home High School students get hands-on medical experience to jump-start their college careers, received funding from the foundation.
With 23 years under his belt, Larry has firmly cemented his legacy at Baxter Health and the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation. Now in his 70s, Larry is headed for the golf course and some well deserved relaxation.
And for those who will miss Larry at Baxter Health, there’s no need to worry. While he may be stepping down from his position, Larry will still be helping out at his beloved hospital from time to time.
