PrintIn 1987, Kathleen Toomey walked into Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J., and received a surprise greeting.
"Hello, doctor," said a nurse cheerfully. "How are you today?"
Toomey, an oncologist who'd decided that year to enter private practice and become affiliated with Somerset Medical Center, was floored. Hospitals are known for being more sterile than social; seldom had Toomey seen a facility where doctors, or even patients, received a genuine greeting from a staff
member they didn't know.
Toomey would soon learn more about this unique health center in the middle of Somerset County, like the fact that a local steeplechase meet raised about half a million dollars for it every year. And Toomey was expected, like hundreds of other hospital employees and volunteers, to attend, work, support or cheer at the Far Hills Race Meeting, which attracts about 50,000 people to Moorland Farms in Far Hills on a Saturday each October.
"I attend the races every year now," said Toomey. "People put on parties, and it's colorful because it's the Northeast in the fall. The animals are beautiful, and people dress up in riding costumes. It's the place to be seen; people running for governor come, people from the House of Representatives come."
Since the 1950s, the Far Hills meet has raised more than $500 million for Somerset Medical Center. As one of the largest race meetings on the National Steeplechase Associ-ation circuit, Far Hills hosts the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase, which carries a purse of $250,000. The meet's total prize money is $525,000.
Meanwhile, Somerset Medical Center continues to thrive on the contributions from its main benefactor. Funds from the races have added so much to the collective improvement of the hospital that it's now credited as one of the finest facilities in New Jersey, said David Flood, president of the Somerset Medical Center Foundation. Right now, the girders are going up on a new cancer-treatment center to be named in honor of the Far Hills Races.
Most of the 38 race meets on the NSA circuit have some sort of charitable tie. But the success of Far Hills, and the event's ability to help fund new technologies and facilities at Somerset Medical Center, illustrates a win-win relationship seldom seen between an equine event and something much larger: improvements in healthcare for thousands of the state's residents.
A Year-Round "Labor Of Love"
So much has changed since the first Far Hills steeplechase meet 85 years ago. In 1918, long before big industries established headquarters in this part of rural New Jersey, the Essex Foxhounds Race Meeting Association organized the race meet. When the race committee decided to get involved with a charity in 1955, a joint venture was born between the steeplechase and Somerset Medical Center.
John von Stade has been either chairman or co-chairman of the event since 1973, but he started back in the 1960s as co-chairman of the stabling committee.
"When I moved to Far Hills in 1964, only about 3,000 to 4,000 people attended the event," he said. "Real growth came from 1983 and 1984 on, and in the early to mid-'90s, our ticket sales hit 45,000 to 50,000."
"Hello, doctor," said a nurse cheerfully. "How are you today?"
Toomey, an oncologist who'd decided that year to enter private practice and become affiliated with Somerset Medical Center, was floored. Hospitals are known for being more sterile than social; seldom had Toomey seen a facility where doctors, or even patients, received a genuine greeting from a staff
member they didn't know.
Toomey would soon learn more about this unique health center in the middle of Somerset County, like the fact that a local steeplechase meet raised about half a million dollars for it every year. And Toomey was expected, like hundreds of other hospital employees and volunteers, to attend, work, support or cheer at the Far Hills Race Meeting, which attracts about 50,000 people to Moorland Farms in Far Hills on a Saturday each October.
"I attend the races every year now," said Toomey. "People put on parties, and it's colorful because it's the Northeast in the fall. The animals are beautiful, and people dress up in riding costumes. It's the place to be seen; people running for governor come, people from the House of Representatives come."
Since the 1950s, the Far Hills meet has raised more than $500 million for Somerset Medical Center. As one of the largest race meetings on the National Steeplechase Associ-ation circuit, Far Hills hosts the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase, which carries a purse of $250,000. The meet's total prize money is $525,000.
Meanwhile, Somerset Medical Center continues to thrive on the contributions from its main benefactor. Funds from the races have added so much to the collective improvement of the hospital that it's now credited as one of the finest facilities in New Jersey, said David Flood, president of the Somerset Medical Center Foundation. Right now, the girders are going up on a new cancer-treatment center to be named in honor of the Far Hills Races.
Most of the 38 race meets on the NSA circuit have some sort of charitable tie. But the success of Far Hills, and the event's ability to help fund new technologies and facilities at Somerset Medical Center, illustrates a win-win relationship seldom seen between an equine event and something much larger: improvements in healthcare for thousands of the state's residents.
A Year-Round "Labor Of Love"
So much has changed since the first Far Hills steeplechase meet 85 years ago. In 1918, long before big industries established headquarters in this part of rural New Jersey, the Essex Foxhounds Race Meeting Association organized the race meet. When the race committee decided to get involved with a charity in 1955, a joint venture was born between the steeplechase and Somerset Medical Center.
John von Stade has been either chairman or co-chairman of the event since 1973, but he started back in the 1960s as co-chairman of the stabling committee.
"When I moved to Far Hills in 1964, only about 3,000 to 4,000 people attended the event," he said. "Real growth came from 1983 and 1984 on, and in the early to mid-'90s, our ticket sales hit 45,000 to 50,000."
