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Rauch Family Foundation gift will help change the trajectory of care in the High Desert

A generous $2.1 million gift — the largest in our ministry’s history — is helping Providence St. Mary Medical Center launch a critical initiative to bring more health care providers to our community. Thanks to this transformational support from the Rauch Family Foundation, Providence St. Mary is implementing a residency program that will change the trajectory of care in Apple Valley and the surrounding High Desert communities.

“This remarkable gift will impact care for generations to come,” says Randy Castillo, chief executive. “We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the Rauch Family Foundation and its foresight in helping us address one of the most pressing health care challenges in our region.”

Residency programs work

If you think it’s difficult to find a family physician or get an appointment with the one you’ve got, it’s not your imagination. We are facing a critical shortage of primary care physicians in the High Desert.

Today, Apple Valley has 35 primary care doctors for every 100,000 people. That’s half the recommended 60 to 80 per 100,000 needed to provide adequate care for a population. This has resulted in long waits for appointments, traveling out of the area for care and putting off preventive care.

As a faith-based nonprofit and mission-driven ministry, Providence St. Mary Medical Center is invested in solving community health problems. Providence St. Mary leaders developed a plan to launch a residency program to recruit and retain talented physicians and enhance the overall quality of medical care in the community.

Statistics from other hospitals in the Providence system show that residency programs enhance recruitment and retention for rural hospitals. Nearly 90% of graduates practice within 50 miles of their residency, and most stay within 15 miles of their training and choose to continue providing care to underserved communities.

Sustainable success

The Rauch Family Foundation’s gift is funding the launch of the residency program, which is underway. We’re starting now with building the residency program infrastructure, including recruiting a clinical leader, upgrading facilities and planning the simulation lab. We expect to welcome our first class of six internal medicine residents in 2025.

“On behalf of an entire community, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Rauch Family Foundation for stepping in with a foundational gift to get our residency program off the ground,” says John Kozyra, executive director, operations and interim chief philanthropy officer. “Ongoing partnership with our donor community will be important to meeting our goal of bringing more physicians to the area.”

If you would like to be part of the solution and help build and sustain the residency program at Providence St. Mary, please contact the Foundation at 760-946-8841 or stmaryfoundation@providence.org.