North Country has come a long way over the past 20 years. It has truly taken a village to become the mature organization North Country HealthCare is today. We serve as the medical home for some 50,000 Arizona residents and operate 23 clinics in 14 communities throughout northern Arizona. Our operating budget is $55M and we employ approximately 500 individuals. We enjoy the support of hundreds of local, regional and state stakeholders and look forward to exciting developments in the years ahead.

We have strategically launched the North Country Foundation to coincide with a few years of reprieve since final year capital campaign contributions which were made in 2012, economic recovery from the financial downturn along with a new program campaign on the horizon. Non-profit fundraising need not be accomplished through a Foundation but North Country believes it creates the structure from which numerous current development activities and future efforts, including planned giving, can be most effectively launched.

A founding Foundation Board has been appointed and its first project is to launch a campaign for our nascent Family Practice Residency Program. This unique and exciting program will provide post medical school training for future primary care physicians, during which we plan to influence their practice choice to work and live in northern Arizona. We firmly believe that addressing the shortage of primary care physicians by improving supply and distribution in rural and underserved northern Arizona is an important and reachable goal through this new program. Stay tuned for more information in 2016.

In the meantime, thank you for your ongoing support of the North Country mission and we wish you a joyous holiday season

Ann Roggenbuck, MPH, MBA, PhD, Retired