RAGBRAI, the mobile festival that each year crosses Iowa on 10,000 pairs of skinny bike tires (give or take a few thousand), is about halfway through its 2010 route as the mass of cyclists, support vehicles and vendors makes its way from Clear Lake to Charles City today.  

Perhaps the most recognized event in Iowa, RAGBRAI is a huge undertaking for everyone involved, particularly in the towns and cities at the end of each day’s ride. Hospitals play several important roles in that preparation. 

RAGBRAI is driven by volunteers. As pools for talent and manpower, few entities match up to hospitals. Inevitably, hospital employees – from CEOs to nurses to materials managers – end up participating on (and often leading) organizing committees. This is in addition to handling their most important mission: making sure the hospital can respond to the medical needs of the community at all times. 

This is a real challenge when RAGBRAI comes to town. For instance, take Charles City,   which is served by Floyd County Medical Center.  With a population of less than 9,000, the city will more than double in size when RAGBRAI is in full swing later today.  

The hospital’s 200 employees must be prepared to serve that population, which today will be particularly susceptible to injury and illness. At the same time, those hospital employees have been called upon to volunteer at their churches, schools and other organizations that are also working to make sure RAGBRAI is a success. Those activities are uniformly supported by hospital leaders; they recognize that the community needs the manpower. But it’s a difficult balancing act for hospitals, which, unlike other businesses, cannot easily down-staff or close for the day (or any part of it). 

It’s no coincidence that on every RAGBRAI route, year after year, nearly every overnight community has at least one hospital. But the hospitals provide more than health and safety for RAGBRAI participants; hospitals are also a big part of the economic health of their communities. Along this year’s route, hospitals employ more than 13,000 people and have an economic impact of nearly $700 million. 

This means that in addition to providing some of the best health care in the nation, these towns and cities have the quality of life and overall vibrancy that attracts RAGBRAI organizers and delights RAGBRAI participants.