Blue Jeans and Boots goes further

The community helped raise more than $190,000 for EvergreenHealth Monroe’s new trauma room, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2017.

Hundreds of community leaders attended the fourth annual Blue Jeans and Boots Gala at the Pine Creek Nursery in Monroe on Sept. 9, according to an EvergreenHealth news release. The target was originally set at $150,000.

“We are so grateful for the generosity of our community. EvergreenHealth Monroe is committed to continually advancing our care, service and infrastructure to best meet the evolving needs of our community,” said the center’s new chief administrative officer Renée Jensen in the release. “These funds will allow us to develop a new, advanced trauma room for providing our east Snohomish County patients with even more specialized, high-quality care.”

The new trauma room will be a part of EvergreenHealth’s 24-hour Level 4 Trauma Center, according to the release. The space is expected to increase treatment options for patients. The funds raised at the gala will be used to buy trauma readiness equipment for the new unit.

Also at the gala, the EvergreenHealth Monroe Foundation presented $200,000 to go toward the purchase of a 3-D tomosynthesis mammography unit for the EvergreenHealth Monroe Breast Center, according to the release. The funds were raised as part of a yearlong campaign, the end goal of which is to make advanced breast health technology available to east Snohomish County residents.

During the event, the Sky Valley Food Bank’s former executive director Neil Watkins was honored by the foundation with the Dr. Joseph Feek Community Service Award. He was recognized for his work as a community service leader with the Valley General Hospital Foundation Board, Monroe Rotary Club and Snohomish County Food Bank Coalition.