When the community is in need, MeritCare and our employees respond. Here are just a few of the events where we have been proud to serve you, our neighbors.
1943: WWII Cadet Nurses Called to Serve
World War II invited the participation of every United States citizen — including an 18-year-old farm girl in Enderlin, N.D. Clarice Weber's dream of becoming a nurse took a patriotic turn.
"It wasn't what I had in mind, but I'm glad it happened," says Clarice, now 83 and living in Fargo. Clarice had planned to sell her 4-H calf to pay her tuition, but two weeks before classes began she learned of a new opportunity.
In 1943, she and every student entering St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing voluntarily joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps — a federally funded program to address the dramatic nursing shortage. In return for a paid education, cadet nurses were required to stay in nursing for the duration of the war.
Why the nursing shortage? The military had recruited vast numbers of skilled professionals to serve overseas. Working nurses as well as recent graduates answered the call. Their sacrifice advanced the war effort, but left a gap at home.
"Hospitals were stripped of registered nurses," says Clarice. "St. Luke's was down to a skeleton crew — a head nurse and a few supervisors. All the others had been recruited and joined the military. It was the thing to do."
The cadet program kept the hospital doors open. After just three months of schooling, Clarice and her classmates began caring for patients while continuing their classroom education. They received a small stipend of $15 a month.
"I felt good because I was doing my part," says Clarice. "I was taking care of the people here at home."
By the time Clarice graduated in 1946, the war was over. "We were very glad, but if I'd had to, I certainly would have gone overseas," she says. "In that war, we knew exactly what we were fighting for. It was all about protecting our freedom."
June 20, 1957, 7:30 p.m.: Deadly Tornado Hits Northwest Fargo
Darkening skies, heavy air, a sound like a train roaring through. Marjorie Stegge-Iverson, knew something bad had happened. Safe in her home near St. Luke's Hospital (now MeritCare), she listened to the radio announcer: tornado hits Golden Ridge area; those who can help, report immediately to the hospital.
Marjorie, a 30-year-old clinic pediatrics nurse, didn't hesitate. She walked the few blocks from her home to the hospital. "There was debris everywhere, including a piece of linoleum on my front step," she says. "But the most eerie sight was a bridal veil hanging in the power lines."
At the hospital … more sights: a cafeteria converted to an overflow emergency room, injured people in tattered and blood-stained clothes, children bundled up in blankets, people caked with soot, and the arrival of the Munson family — six children lost to the tornado.
"There was chaos, but it didn't seem chaotic. We checked in and got to work. I was struck by how well organized everything was," she says. The staff divided into diagnostic, suture, and tetanus teams. People with minor injuries were treated and released. Others were admitted to the hospital. All four operating rooms were used through the night.
Many children were sent directly to the clinic's pediatrics department where Marjorie and the pediatricians were set up and ready to go. "We had a priest there, too, just in case any baptisms were needed," she says.
For Marjorie and everyone who lived through it, the tornado of '57 left its mark: 16 square blocks of homes gone, hundreds of people homeless, more than 150 injured, 12 killed.
Marjorie doesn't remember what time she walked home, but like many, she reported for work a few hours later. Heroism takes many forms. For Marjorie, who retired from MeritCare in 1990, it was a matter of showing up and doing the work she loved.
April 1997: A Flood of Support
Dave Lampl knows all about hard work — the kind that makes muscles ache and hands dirty. Since 1983, he's worked in outside maintenance at MeritCare. But the job he took on in April 1997 gave "outside maintenance" a whole new meaning.
That month, the "flood of the century" hit home. Record winter snowfalls brought the Red River out of its banks, threatening and devastating communities up and down the Red.
News reports alerted people to take action. Thousands of volunteers stepped up, including Dave and hundreds of other MeritCare employees. With willing hearts and helpful hands, they gathered at hot spots, filling endless sandbags. They passed them down a line and piled them high — high enough, they hoped, to save precious homes and communities.
"It was really something how people pitched in. It didn't matter what department they were from or if they knew each other. They just came together to help," says Dave.
MeritCare employees put in over 1,800 hours in flood-fighting activities. In addition, MeritCare LifeFlight evacuated patients from flood-ravaged areas and MeritCare staff provided free tetanus shots to flood victims and volunteers.
Dave has no idea how many hours he worked, but remembers the exhaustion. "I won't deny I was tired — arms, back, everything," he says. "You'd go home thinking you could relax, then it would start all over the next day — or the same day — or even the middle of the night." Dave will never forget sandbagging at 3 a.m. at Dike East, then reporting to MeritCare for work at 6 a.m.
Would he do it all again? "Without a doubt," he says. "And I'm not the only one. People from all walks got out there and got the job done. It didn't matter who you were. You just wanted to help people."