St. John, St. Ansgar, and Dakota Hospitals of Fargo had active auxiliaries in the twentieth century. When hospital mergers occurred in the 1990s, the auxiliaries also merged. St. John’s Auxiliary, St. Ansgar Auxiliary, and Dakota Hospital Auxiliary became Dakota Heartland Health System Auxiliary in 1996, there are records from all three organizations. The auxiliary of the Dakota Heartland Health System dissolved in 2002 when Heartland Hospital was sold to MeritCare. The membership was transferred to MeritCare Auxiliary. Several years of the Dakota Hospital Auxiliary and Dakota Heartland Auxiliary records are included in this eclectic collection of notebooks and scrapbooks.

The auxiliary fulfilled its mission: “To raise and disburse funds to benefit the health and wellness of Heartland Health System patients and the Fargo-Moorhead Community.” The organization donated up to $50,000 annually to various organizations and groups throughout the Red River Valley. The last dispersion of money in 2002 totaled $65,200, which was given to the following organizations: Salvation Army, YWCA, Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, Hospice of RRV, Dorothy Day House, Churches United, and Birthright.

In the 1960s and into the 1970s four Fargo-Moorhead hospitals had Candy Striper programs, St. Ansgar, St. John, St. Luke and Dakota. The three scrapbooks included with the auxiliary information give us insight into the programs at St. John and St. Ansgar from 1961 until 1976. Thousands of hours were given to patients in the hospitals by local teenagers.

Dakota Heartland Health System Auxiliary Records |  Medicine | Fargo