A moment of truth deepens John Huntley’s commitment to care close to home

John Huntley has watched Whatcom County change for decades. What hasn't changed is where his family turns when it matters most.

His family's roots go back to the early 1900s — they built businesses, raised children and stayed, generation after generation, in the place they called home. John’s connection to PeaceHealth spans generations. Family members were born here. His mother was a Foundation Board member and today, his children and grandchildren rely on it. 

For more than two decades, he has supported PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center as a donor and a Foundation Board member, moved by a conviction that the quality of local care shapes the character of a community. 

He had never needed to test that conviction the way he did the night his son was in the hospital. His son was 39 years old, healthy and active, the last person anyone expected to need a cardiologist. But a widow maker doesn't wait for the right moment. A 90% blockage in the left anterior descending artery announces itself without warning. Within hours of diagnosis, John’s son was transferred to PeaceHealth St. Joseph for emergency intervention.

"He wasn't the one who was supposed to be in the hospital," John said.

His wife and older son were out of town. It was just the three of them in the waiting room: John, his son's girlfriend and the silence that settles over people who have no good information and are trying not to imagine the worst.

What John needed, above all, was the truth. "I just wanted to know what was really going on," he said.

The care team gave him that. Physicians and nurses moved with the clarity of people who have seen fear before and know that the kindest thing they can offer is honesty. They explained what was happening step by step. They stayed present. They cared for his son and, in doing so, for him.

Just before surgery, a nurse looked at him directly and said, "This is going to be a piece of cake. I do this all the time." In that moment, her words were the most reassuring thing anyone could have said. 

Hours later, the doctors let John know that the surgery had gone well. His son was going to be fine. "That's when I could finally breathe," John said.

His son had first been seen at another facility, one without the cardiac infrastructure the situation required. The transfer to PeaceHealth St. Joseph made all the difference. Care close to home, he will tell you, is not a convenience. It is critical and essential.

Today his son is healthy and thriving. And that outcome is inseparable, in John's mind, from the institution that made it possible, from the people on the floor that night and from the decades of investment that put them there.

"You want the best," he said. "You have to invest in the best."

His contribution of a $100,000 in 2022 to PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Stronger Together campaign is a way of honoring that commitment.  Through the campaign, PeaceHealth St. Joseph raised more than $100 million to expand and modernize care for Whatcom County, a historic milestone made possible by donors across the region. 

It is because of donors like John that exceptional care with skilled teams, advanced equipment and spaces designed to serve patients is a reality. None of it happens by accident. It is built, incrementally, through shared commitment over time. His giving is, among other things, an investment in the future of the place his family has called home for more than a century.

"We've gotten a lot out of this community," he said. "We're going to keep it strong."

What stays with him most from that night is the people of St. Joseph. The physician who explained every step. The nurse who brought calm to a moment of chaos. The team that treated him as a father who needed care too.

"You could tell they cared," he said.

That care was possible because of what was already in place: the training, the technology and the mission of bringing hope, healing and peace. As construction has begun on the Peter Paulsen Pavilion, we know John’s family, like many other families, will get the best care for generations to come. 

When the unexpected happens, nothing matters more than knowing care is already there. That kind of readiness is built long before the moment arrives. Through philanthropy, we remove barriers so every person can receive the right care at the right time.