Making a Difference: Dr. Patricia Hatley

Making a Difference: Dr. Patricia Hatley

AGE: 66
RESIDENCE: Blue Springs
HOBBIES: Reading, games, golf
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT HATLEY: “I’ve worked with Pat over the past couple of years on the golf tournament, and she’s someone you can lean on. I remember her working with the school district and introducing high school students to health care careers. A lot of students got interested in that career path because of her.” – Deborah White, Donor Stewardship and Cultivation Officer at St. Joseph and St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundations

Patricia Hatley will become the third of out six of her closest friends to receive the Imelda Farmer Friendship Award on Feb. 3.

“We call the group the Golden Girls – you know, from that television show,” Hatley said this week. “We’re very close.”

During the last 33 years, Hatley has served in several local educational capacities, including as an English teacher and assistant principal in the Independence School District and as the director of secondary education in Blue Springs – to name a few.

Dr. Hatley nurtured her hometown ties by volunteering for the Career Central of Blue Springs, the Blue Springs School of Economics, the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce’s “Taste of Blue Springs,” and the Blue Springs Fall Fun Fest.

Hatley is also a volunteer.

Since 1987, she’s logged hundreds of hours of volunteer service with numerous organizations, including local school districts and civic organizations.

But it’s her work through St. Mary’s Medical Center that she is most proud of. She’s been associated with St. Mary’s Medical Center Auxiliary for more than 25 years, as a board member for 10 years, and as the board president from 1998-99.

She is an instrumental part of St. Mary’s Medical Center’s Butterfly Ball, the St. Mary’s Holiday Fair and the St. Mary’s Golf Classic, which she will again coordinate this year.

As the Eastern Jackson County Business/Education Partnership director for six years after her retirement from the Blue Springs School District, Hatley created the Summer Health Career Institute for Students, which introduced high school students to a variety of health care career options.

She serves on the board of the Blue Springs Education Foundation and is a co-founder of Women Endowing Education.

As the St. Mary’s committee said when talking about Hatley: “She believes in two things: people should always keep learning and they should use what they learn to help others.”

Why did you decide to volunteer?

I wanted to stay in touch with people and with Blue Springs. St. Mary’s was really my first volunteer position, but even before that I volunteered in the school districts.

Of all the organizations you volunteer for, which is your favorite and most challenging?

St. Mary’s. I’ve done so much work with them. It’s the one organization that I’ve volunteered with most consistently over the years.

In 2006, we celebrated the 25th annual Butterfly Ball, and we worked hard to make it the best it had ever been so far. We raised more money than we ever had that year.

An ongoing challenge is being able to balance my life with the volunteering I do. That’s the hardest thing. But by volunteering, I’ve made so many friends.

What does receiving the Imelda Farmer award mean to you?

I was stunned. So many more people do more work than I do. Many of the volunteers work inside the hospital, doing things in there and contributing, so I was surprised when I  was told I was going to receive the award.

How should someone who’s never volunteered start the process?

I’d suggest that someone look at his/her talents and interests and then contact any number of organizations in your community. There’s the hospitals, the chamber of commerce, school districts. There are so many opportunities to volunteer.

Those who are interested in joining Friends of St. Mary’s or would like to attend the annual dinner, contact St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation at 655-5363.