Ron Lambert: Supporting the CCH Foundation Since Its Founding
5/15/2019
In 2002, Columbus Community Hospital (CCH) was in a period of transition as it built a new facility to support the health care needs of its growing community.
Ron Lambert was on the CCH board that decided to build the new facility. When the CCH Foundation was created that year – in part to support the facility – Lambert became a member of the first CCH Foundation board.
“Myself and several other board members thought we need to be able to support this, not only through the hospital, but also through a foundation,” Lambert said. “The feeling at that time was that it was a major step and we wanted to make sure that we had enough funds to continue the growth of the hospital.”
Lambert would go on to serve on the CCH Foundation board for two years. He has remained an active supporter of the foundation ever since and he has been impressed by how the foundation has been able to support the continued growth of the hospital.
“The hospital has grown far beyond what I thought it would and it’s just phenomenal,” he said.
Community Involvement
Over the years, Lambert has continued to support the foundation through donations and he’s happy to see the same involvement from others in the community.
“I think the foundation is extremely well accepted in the community, not just in Columbus, but also in the surrounding communities,” he said. “I think the community, if you just look at what they’re contributing, I think it is just amazing.”
Lambert believes these donations are in good hands with the CCH’s Foundation board members.
“The people who are on the board are very community minded,” he said. “They’re doing a very good job of getting the word out about how the foundation is supporting the hospital.”
The foundation supports the hospital with donations to its physical improvements, like the new facility that was built in 2002 and the new $35 million expansion project that broke ground in spring 2019. But, as Lambert noted, the foundation also plays an important part in the growth of the hospital’s staff.
“I think that the whole community understands that we have to continue to financially support the foundation because that’s what helps with a lot of the things the hospital purchases, as far as equipment and so forth, and that’s what helps bring new physicians into the community,” he said.
Returning to His Hometown
Lambert was born and raised in Columbus.
After attending business school in Omaha and working elsewhere for a number of years, he returned to his hometown to found and run successful businesses.
He founded Mid-American Research Chemical (MARC) in the 1970s. Though Lambert would go on to sell the company about 20 years later, MARC is still active in Columbus. Lambert was also one of the founders of Paraclipse, another local company that is still in the community today. In addition to these business pursuits, Lambert also does land development with his family.
Lambert and his wife, Charlotte, have three children: Mark, Kim and Tiffany; as well as seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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For information on how your gift, large or small, can strengthen your Columbus Community Hospital, please contact the:
Columbus Community Hospital Foundation
4600 38th St. P.O. Box 1800
Columbus, NE 68602-1800
402-562-3377
foundation@columbushosp.org