Seton receives $250,000 nursing endowment
Seton receives $250,000 nursing endowment
Tuesday, 02 June 2009
Emergency Service Partners, LP, a physician-owned emergency medicine group practicing in Central Texas emergency departments, has pledged $250,000 to the Seton Nurse Scholarship Endowment in memory of the late Rick Gastelum.
Gastelum was a University Medical Center Brackenridge ER nurse who died on July 7, 2007, in an accidental death at the age of 62.
“It was the right thing to do to help sustain excellent nursing at Seton,” ESP President and Seton Medical Center Austin ED Medical Director Sam Roberts said. “Probably two-thirds of our board had worked with Rick. With a positive attitude and great sense of humor, he was a great example to all of us in health care, someone to pattern your life after."
Gastelum had worked in the Brackenridge ER since 1977 as an ER tech and nurse, serving as staff, charge and clinical manager.
”This gift from Emergency Service Partners is a tremendous tribute to the incredible talents that Rick brought into the [emergency room], and their belief in our nurses as an integral part of their team,” said Edward Olmeda, development officer for the Seton Foundations. “ESP shares our focus on Seton’s mission — to care for all patients who come through our doors.”
Dr. Roberts said, “Rick was all about wanting people to feel better, to be better. Always the patient advocate, he was a big supporter of staff. If a colleague was having difficulty coping, Rick would lend a hand. He helped ESP and the trauma community through many projects and system/organizational changes.”
The endowment gives the community, colleagues and other Seton associates the opportunity to help the nursing profession grow while memorializing Gastelum.
To make a donation in memory of Rick Gastelum, visit www.setonfund.org.
