Greene County General Hospital Foundation has partnered with the family of Lexi Poindexter of Bloomfield, formerly Linton, to provide free blood pressure monitors and education to all GCGH pregnant and postpartum patients. The program, “Lexi Poindexter Memorial Project,” was created in memory of Lexi who passed away from a brain hemorrhage on March 28, 2019, 13 days after giving birth to her second child. According to Lexi’s family, the exact reason for the brain hemorrhage is unclear, but it is known that her blood pressure spiked very high the evening her brain hemorrhage occurred. In her memory, the family raised over $5,000 through a Facebook fundraising campaign with the hope to provide blood pressure monitors to new mothers. Due to the community’s overwhelming support of the family’s mission, they were able to donate the funds to the GCGH Foundation to create and administer the program.
GCGH Foundation Director, Stacy Burris, worked directly with Lexi’s mother, Michelle Brown, and the Greene County Perinatal Navigator, Nicole Page, RN, IBCLC to create a sustainable program. This program will not only provide blood pressure monitors to pregnant and postpartum patients but will also educate the mothers about hypertensive disorders of pregnancies and how to properly monitor their blood pressure during and after pregnancy. Every patient of the Greene County Perinatal Navigator program and every patient delivering at GCGH will receive a bag with blood pressure monitoring education and a blood pressure monitor, because of Lexi’s family and the support from her community.
The family not only raised the funds to create the memorial project, they approved all the communication materials. Brenda Reetz, CEO of GCGH and GCGH Foundation board member, remembers the impact of Lexi’s passing, “we are a small community and when this happened our hearts were broken. Lexi and her family feel like part of our family and we are honored to carry out the family’s mission.”
The GCGH Foundation has also created an account to accept donations for the project at Owen County State Bank. Donations are accepted at any OCSB branch and the donor only needs to indicate the funds be deposited into the Lexi Poindexter Memorial Project account. Donations can also be mailed to the GCGH Foundation at 409 A Street NE Linton, Indiana 47441.
