Sarah M. Dyson, a longtime member of the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees, has been named chairman of the nonprofit organization.
One of its longest-serving members, Dyson first joined the board in 2005 and went on to complete nine years of service before stepping down in 2014 at the end of her third term. A year later she was invited to rejoin the board. During her tenure, she has served as secretary and vice chairman of the board and on its investment and trustees committees.
“Sarah understands the benefits a community hospital provides to residents and how the Foundation plays a critical role in helping the hospital meet its funding needs to offer the finest healthcare possible,” said Associate Vice President and Chief Development Officer Debbie Schuchmann. “She has a vision for the Foundation and is committed to achieving that vision.”
Dyson has been a donor and staunch supporter of the hospital since moving to Beaufort in 1996. She has offered her Lady’s Island home for a number of Foundation events, including the annual Celebration of Giving, and hosted student musicians performing in the annual Duke Symphony Orchestra fundraising concert. She also has hosted a half-dozen Valentine Ball dinner parties — one of them at the last minute to fill in for a host who became ill.
“I was an Army wife,” Dyson quipped. “I learned to be prepared for anything.”
Always civically active in the communities where she has lived, Dyson has devoted most of her energies in recent years to helping the YMCA of Beaufort County, Friends of the Beaufort County Library and the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation.
“I became interested in Beaufort Memorial after seeing the care my in-laws received at the hospital over the years,” she said. “That’s what people remember — the person who took an extra two minutes to make them feel they’re not just a number.”
Dyson will serve two years as chairman, taking the post vacated by Hugh Gouldthorpe.
“I have some tough acts to follow,” Dyson said. “But I’m very optimistic this community will continue to rally behind our hospital. Whether you give $5 or $5 million, we welcome the support.”
