CIBOLA MEDICAL FOUNDATION NURSING ENDOWMENT
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Dr. Phil Kamps shares his passion for medicine with students from the UNM School of Medicine as they visit Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services. tudents in the UNM-Gallup branch campus nursing program will soon benefit from scholarships endowed by the Cibola Medical Foundation. Dr. Phillip Kamps, president of the Cibola Medical Foundation, recently presented UNM-Gallup with a check in the amount of $100,000 to establish an endowment that will continue in perpetuity to defray the costs of tuition, books, fees, and all other educational expenses required for graduation from the nursing program. The Cibola Medical Foundation Nursing
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March 2019
Scholarship Fund was established as a means of recognizing and supporting students who come through the UNM-Gallup nursing program and stay within the community to serve patients of the area. The impetus for the donation was the passing of Gallup resident Virginia Nuanez, who graduated from the UNM-Gallup program and worked as a registered nurse in the obstetrics department for over 20 years at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital. During a recent interview, Dr. Kamps noted, “While in her forties, Virginia took advantage of the UNM-Gallup branch to enter her second career after her first career of raising her family. If the UNM-Gallup program hadn’t been here, she probably never would have received that education.” The endowment was funded to help others, like Mrs. Nuanez, who want to receive their nursing degree and stay in the community. “The nursing program is one of the best things Gallup has,” continued Dr. Kamps. “This program is extremely valuable to our community.” Dr. Kamps explained that in 1972, the Cibola Medical Foundation became the administrative arm of the private medical group Christian Medical Associates. Its founding members were Dr. Phil Kamps, Dr. Richard Stam, Dr. Al Diddams, and Dr. Jack Kamps. In 1995, the physicians rejoined the hospital system and the work of the Foundation temporarily ceased. After the board of directors realized there were still some resources remaining, they extended their philanthropic efforts to supporting local hospital and missionary activities. Dr. Kamps would know, better than most, the medical situation in the greater Gallup area as he has spent almost his entire life immersed in the culture and history of the area. Delivered at the old Rehoboth Mission Hospital by Dr. John McCormick, Kamps was raised on the Rehoboth campus east of Gallup, where he was a familiar social visitor to the hospital. “I knew all the doctors and nurses. I used to go in and beg for throat lozenges from the nurses because I thought they were candy.” In addition to his frequent interactions with hospital staff, Kamps was greatly influenced by Dr. Richard Pousma, physician and superintendent of the Rehoboth Mission Hospital. “Dr. Pousma was a great example to me. Once, during the quieter summer months on campus, Dr. Pousma told me he was going out to the Boy Scout camp and asked if I wanted to go with him. I don’t even think I told my mother where I was going.” “Dr. Pousma was a big fellow with a great voice,” Kamps continued, “He was a seminary-trained missionary as well as a physician. In the late 1920s, Dr. Pousma and my parents travelled to China. Due to great political unrest at the time, they quickly returned to Rehoboth where my father (Reverend Jacob R. Kamps) was a minister and referred to as ‘Camp Pastor’.” Dr. Richard Pousma accepted a temporary
