Read this, purloined direct from MrHISTalk’s site. If you’re feeling generous I think chucking a few bucks to the link at the end will at the least make you feel better this weekend, and to think that…at least it’s not us. And of course one day it might be.

I know I’m going to regret this because it’s work for me, but here goes. I felt really bad for Sumter Regional Hospital of Americus, Georgia, a tiny hospital in a small town that suffered amazing destruction in just a handful of minutes three weeks ago when a tornado ripped through its campus and pretty much destroyed it. I’ve worked in small hospitals and they are the lifeblood of a town – the main healthcare provider, the main employer, and a source of community pride. This isn’t one of your Taj Mahospitals that can just draw a few hundred million from investments and rebuild, not to mention how employees will get along with the potential of no paychecks. The hospital had good insurance (including business continuity) and will get some help from FEMA, but that’s not helping their employees or their town. As we speak, they’re running a 50-bed hospital out of tents borrowed from the Boy Scouts and FEMA.I mentioned here that they could use some help and figured hey, it’s less work for me if no one bites. Well, Jon Phillips of Healthcare Growth Partners threw down the gauntlet – he offered to match the first $1,000 in donations to the hospital. Of course, that put me on the hook to deliver, so I e-mailed the hospital and asked how they’re doing and see if we could help out. From Marcus Johnson, director of marketing and PR: "On behalf of Sumter Regional Hospital, I want to thank you and your readers for your kindness and generosity during our time of need. It’s been about 3 weeks since the storm, and we are trying to get back to a sense of normalcy. We opened a field hospital a few weeks ago that serves the basic healthcare needs of our community, and our plan is to move into something a little more sturdier in the coming weeks, possibly modular buildings. Our main building is currently uninhabitable, and we are still awaiting word from the engineers and insurance people regarding the rebuilding of the existing building or possibly even the construction of a new one. Our most pressing need is, of course, funds for rebuilding and donations to our employees, many of whom suffered damages to their cars and homes. Thanks again, Mr. HIStalk, for your assistance, and for more pictures, updates, etc. please go to our website at www.sumterregional.org."So here’s the deal. I’ll put out a "Donate" button below that will send your donation my way (since I don’t know of any other way to quickly collect donations as a group.) I can track and report those donations because I’ve set the "Donate" button to flag them for Sumter. I’ll list every contribution here and, once we’re finished, send the money to the hospital. I’ll contribute the first $250 (and maybe add to that if readers respond with me.) Now here’s the lofty goal I’m setting: I want to collect $10,000 for Sumter Regional Hospital from individuals and companies. That’s a lot, but I’d sure like to see us meet or exceed that number. It can happen if vendors help out. You’ll feel good for helping a little hospital and its employees, I’ll give you some recognition for pitching in, and I bet we can give them a much-needed boost. Look for a status page and news update from the hospital to follow.

You can donate by hitting this button