Ed & Carole Liebzeit

From the earliest days of St. John's Health Foundation, Ed and Carole Liebzeit have been at the heart of the organization's efforts. Already avid supporters of St. John’s Health, Ed was willing to step into the leadership role of Foundation Board Chair in 2001. Under his guidance, the Foundation completed its first capital campaign, funding the expansion of the oncology department, labor and delivery wing, and the emergency department. “Before the campaign,” Ed recalls, “people were literally receiving their chemotherapy treatments in the hallway. The staff was magnificent but they needed a space that matched their excellence.”

“We knew that we were so blessed to have St. John’s Health, and we needed to do more,” Ed reflects on their years of advocacy and engagement. Carole, bringing extensive experience from previous work with Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, served as a founding board member of the Teton Free Clinic and helped develop a diabetes treatment and outreach plan for St. John’s Health.

Ed and Carole treasure the level of engagement across the community when it comes to supporting critical human services. “The Foundation is a key piece of keeping St. John’s Health as an independent hospital,” Ed explains. “Although St. John’s needs to be financially sound, the fact that the hospital is not driven by a profit motive maintains the quality of care. The priority is the community, not the bottom line.”

“The priorities of the hospital are on services, which means not only are they top-quality, but that people actively want to receive their care here,” adds Carole. During their years in the Jackson Hole community, they recall times in which friends or loved ones had to travel to far-flung locations to receive the care they needed for an illness or injury. “St. John’s offers nearly everything that people need in their own home town,” Ed says. “People can stay here for treatment.”

Ed and Carole both appreciate the breadth and caliber of services that St. John’s Health offers locally. “For a community of our size to have the quality of care we have — from physicians to nursing and other services — it’s an irreplaceable resource.”