Reach Out and Read Minnesota is thrilled to announce Susan Goodemote, a family practice nurse practitioner at Sanford Health Mountain Lake and Sanford Health Windom, as the winner of the 2024 Gerald Gilchrist Medical Champion Award.
The Gerald Gilchrist Medical Champion Award is given annually to a Reach Out and Read Minnesota healthcare provider who has been exceptional in promoting literacy, learning, and early relational health to their young patients and their caretakers. Sue discovered the Reach Out and Read program when she learned that her own granddaughter received books during her routine well-child visits in Maine. After returning home, Sue was instrumental not only in getting the program started at her two clinics in Minnesota, but she was also able to secure the funding for books by personally writing and receiving grants from the The O'Dell Wind Foundation and the Mountain Lake Foundation.
Sue received three separate nominations for the Gilchrist Award from her Sanford Health colleagues, who called her an “advocate for children’s literacy” and noted how she “brightens up the day” of her young patients by using the program. Her colleagues also noted that she regularly provides guidance to her fellow healthcare providers about using the program, and personally has taken charge of tracking books for the program.
“Susan has been an outstanding champion for the Reach Out and Read program. From bringing her clinic onboard, to finding funding, to the work she puts in every single day to share books and smiles with her young patients, Susan has gone above and beyond to support early learning in her community,” added Reach Out and Read Minnesota Executive Director, Kris Hoplin.
In honor of the award, Sanford Health Mountain Lake will be receiving 250 books to be used in the Reach Out and Read program.
