By Abigail Wright
NKyTribune staff writer
From operating one of Greater Cincinnati’s first MRI scanners to helping hundreds of local nonprofits, Cary Graham has spent nearly five decades finding new ways to care for his community.
Now, after 47 years in the industry, Graham, manager of community relations and sponsorships at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, is preparing to retire early next year, leaving behind a career that has connected hundreds of organizations across Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.
His colleagues jokingly refer to him as the mayor of St. Elizabeth, a nickname earned through years of building relationships with nonprofits, community leaders and organizations throughout the region.
For Graham, those relationships have become one of the most rewarding aspects of his career.
“One of our (St. Elizabeth’s) strategic pillars has always been to be the best community partner. So I’ve been given some resources to support many nonprofits in our region,” Graham said. “So all the sponsorship requests that come in to St. Elizabeth are funneled to me and my team.”
Graham and his team help coordinate sponsorships for approximately 400 events each year, supporting organizations focused on everything from health and wellness to education and food insecurity.
But his career did not begin in community relations.
After graduating from Xavier University in 1980, Graham began his professional career at Cincinnati Neurological Associates, now known as Riverhills Healthcare, operating a CT scanner.
In 1986, he was selected to operate one of the region’s first MRI scanners, becoming one of the earliest MRI technologists in Greater Cincinnati.
Eventually, Graham became manager of Wellington Diagnostic Center before moving to Kentucky Diagnostic Center, where he transitioned from clinical operations into marketing.
Following the merger of St. Elizabeth Healthcare and St. Luke Hospitals in 2008, Graham joined the system’s public relations and marketing department as physician marketing manager.
In that position, he promoted services ranging from medical imaging to heart and vascular care while building relationships with physicians throughout Northern Kentucky and neighboring communities.
In 2015, he transitioned into his current position as manager of community relations and sponsorships, a role that allowed him to take his relationship-building skills beyond hospital walls.
“The transition from the clinical role to the non-clinical role just really kind of expanded my career,” Graham said. “I really enjoyed getting out in the community, supporting our community, seeing all the great work they do.”
A career built on community connections
A significant part of Graham’s job involves getting to know the people behind local nonprofits, understanding their missions and identifying opportunities for St. Elizabeth to support their work.
According to Graham, St. Elizabeth prioritizes three areas when determining where to direct its community sponsorship funding.
“There’s kind of three buckets we like to focus our community relationship dollars on,” Graham said. “Health and wellness is number one, education is number two and workforce is number three.”
Those priorities have led to partnerships with organizations such as the YMCA, Special Olympics, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas More University and Gateway Community and Technical College.
St. Elizabeth also supports organizations addressing mental health, substance use disorders, homelessness, domestic violence and cancer care.
Graham’s involvement often extends beyond coordinating financial support, as he can often be found volunteering at many events himself.
Through those experiences, Graham said he has gained a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the communities the hospital serves.
One issue that particularly changed his perspective was food insecurity.
“When I first learned about food insecurity, I couldn’t get my head around that it was a huge problem. But once I got involved with these organizations, I realized how real it is,” Graham said.
Through a partnership with Freestore Foodbank, St. Elizabeth organized yearly holiday food drives at its Covington campus that has provided more than 6,800 meals to people in need, according to Graham.
“It’s been a learning experience and an eye-opening experience on, you know, how many people and kids are hungry in our community, in our backyard,” Graham said.
For Graham, experiences like these demonstrate how partnerships can grow beyond their original purpose.
“When those relationships build, opportunities arise,” Graham said.
A home run for local communities
One of the largest partnerships Graham has helped develop is St. Elizabeth’s relationship with the Cincinnati Reds, which began in 2015.
As the partnership took shape, Graham wanted to find ways for the hospital to work with the Reds Community Fund to extend its reach into Northern Kentucky.
One result was a collaboration with Pitch In For Baseball & Softball, an organization that distributes new and gently used baseball and softball equipment to underserved communities, including those in approximately 30 Major League Baseball markets.
Each January, St. Elizabeth distributes around $50,000 worth of new equipment to about 24 schools and youth organizations through the partnership.
“It’s like Christmas in January for these schools that they come in and they have all this new equipment. And it’s schools in need that we pick,” Graham said. “So we make sure that we’re taking care of those that are in need.”
The impact of the program became especially clear to Graham when one coach told him his team had been able to purchase new uniforms because the school knew it would receive equipment through the partnership.
St. Elizabeth has also supported baseball field renovation projects in communities such as Bellevue, Ludlow, and Augusta.
For Graham, seeing firsthand how those contributions benefit young athletes and their communities has been one of the highlights of his work.
A career rooted in service
Beyond his professional responsibilities, Graham has remained personally involved with several organizations he has supported throughout his career.
He has participated in 10 Honor Flight trips to Washington, D.C., serving as both sponsor and guardian, and now serves on the Honor Flight Tri-State Board of Directors.
He is also involved with the Special Olympics, serving on its board of directors and the Special Olympics Kentucky Winter Games Committee.
Whether working with a youth sports program, supporting a food distribution event or helping a nonprofit secure sponsorship funding, Graham said the gratitude he receives from community members has made his work all the more meaningful.
“It’s a feel good moment to have those people thank me and St. Elizabeth for all the support that we do year in and year out for so many organizations,” Graham said.
As retirement approaches, Graham said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family, including his wife, Anna, their son and daughter and three grandchildren.
Although his career began behind a medical imaging scanner, it will end with a legacy of relationships built across the region.
After nearly five decades in healthcare, Graham’s work has taken him from helping physicians see what was happening inside their patients to seeing firsthand the needs of the communities surrounding them.
And through the hundreds of organizations he has worked with, he has found that supporting a community begins with getting to know the people who call it home.