Barbara Heimbigner nominated for humanitarian service award

On October 7, Providence Health Care honored Barbara Heimbigner as one of 10 nominees for the Sister Peter Claver Humanitarian Award. The award is presented annually to an extraordinary person whose faith and good works inspire their colleagues, friends and families and enrich the lives of others. Sister Claver was an inspiration to her staff at Sacred heart and the Spokane community as she performed countless selfless deeds for Sacred Heart and her community.

Nominees for the award are those who have made a difference by dedicating themselves to helping others. Barbara Heimbigner is such a person. Barb mentors new nursing students to assist them in achieving their professional goals.

She shares her deep commitment to medically fragile children with heart disease through Beats and Rhythms. Barb has made four trips to Ethiopia and one to Romania sponsored by Healing the Children to perform open heart surgeries on kids with congenital heart defects. Eighty-eight kids are now alive because of the success of the surgeries performed by this team.

She has coordinated cardiac camps for about fifty kids with congenital heart disease for the last six years. This was sponsored by Beats and Rhythms, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping provide normal life experiences for these medically fragile children that cannot attend regular camps because of their life alternating diagnosis.

Barb traveled in India for six weeks with India Evangelical Mission participating in medical and dental clinics. She spent three weeks in Cambodia sponsored by Positive Life Radio and Musicianaries International to distribute rice and iodized salt to 75,000 people. Medical clinics were conducted during that distribution, providing basic care for many people.

Barb is well known in Ritzville and is always available when she is needed. Even though she lives and works in Spokane she continues to look after her long-time friends in Ritzville, never forgetting her “roots.” When she knows that someone from Ritzville is in a Spokane hospital she will visit them and ask what she may do for them. Many in Ritzville have experienced this.

With her countless good deeds, Barb is very much appreciated and she is a blessing to many.