• Minnesota

    Mayo Clinic Proclaimed a Yellow Ribbon Company

Mayo Clinic Yellow Ribbon Announcement, dignitaries honoring veterans
ROCHESTER, Minn. — On June 19, Mayo Clinic was named a Yellow Ribbon Company — the first health organization in Minnesota to receive this recognition. Mayo received this recognition in connection with its participation in the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program, which was started by the Minnesota National Guard. This program creates awareness of the need to connect service members and their families with community support, training, services and resources.

Being a part of the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program enables Mayo Clinic to help those affected by military deployments, support successful transition into the workplace following military deployments and demonstrate a public commitment to supporting military members when they become patients.

“To be named a Yellow Ribbon Company is a distinct honor,” says John Noseworthy, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic “Throughout our history, Mayo Clinic has been proud to serve, and serve with, the U.S. military. The risks and challenges faced by our military are very different today, but our passion for supporting the country and aiding and protecting its troops is unchanged.”

Media Contacts: Kelley Luckstein and Mickella Geary, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu 

Mayo Clinic has a long history of supporting the military, which started with William Worrall Mayo, M.D., during the Civil War, and continues today. In 2011, the first Veterans Mayo Employee Resource Group (Veterans MERG) was formed in Rochester. The Veterans MERG has focused Mayo Clinic’s collective knowledge to improve patient care, research and education for military members.

Stephanie Starr, M.D., receives the Yellow Ribbon plaque from (left to right) Annette Kuyper, Director of Military Outreach, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon; Tina Smith, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor; and Minnesota National Guard Air Force Brigadier General David Hamlar, M.D., D.D.S.
Stephanie Starr, M.D., receives the Yellow Ribbon plaque from (left to right) Annette Kuyper, Director of Military Outreach, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon; Tina Smith, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor; and Minnesota National Guard Air Force Brigadier General David Hamlar, M.D., D.D.S.

As the Veterans MERG became further involved in best practice research, they discovered the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program, and began to focus their efforts around this program’s standards.

Mayo’s wartime efforts have led to important advances in civilian health care such as the anti-gravity suit for pilots, the oxygen mask and practice efficiencies that became standard operating procedure.

“The best part of being a Yellow Ribbon Company is that it is a journey of continued sharing, continued education, as well as the learning and sharing of best practices. That means Mayo Clinic can continue to build on what we are doing today to make sure military members feel welcomed at Mayo Clinic whether as a patient or as an employee,” says Stephanie Starr, M.D., pediatrician at Mayo Clinic Children’s Center, Navy veteran and physician leader of Mayo’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon committee.

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 About Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program
The Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program is a comprehensive program that was started in Minnesota in 2008. It creates awareness regarding the need to connect service members and their families with community support, training, services and resources. 

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to medical research and education, and providing expert, whole-person care to everyone who needs healing. For more information, visit http://mayocl.in/1ohJTMSor https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/.