There are few who understand more than Margaret O. Carpenter that the Rockaway community is defined by its residents' readiness to help one another. For nearly fifty years, Carpenter has dedicated countless hours, resources, and her many talents towards supporting St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. During the 1970s, she first envisioned what the hospital could become given access to the appropriate resources. Throughout this period, she frequently rushed to the hospital to tend to her father, who battled emphysema. Aspiring to create a haven for vulnerable people like him, Carpenter joined the Hospital Auxiliary. Operating initially as its treasurer, she would later transition into the role of Auxiliary president. She also served as president on the St. John’s Development Board which raised 11 million dollars for the hospital over the years. This chapter in her relationship with St. John’s resulted in her 23-year tenure as the Second Vice President of the Episcopal Health Services (EHS) Board of Trustees.
 
To honor Carpenter’s vast altruistic accomplishments, the EHS Board of Trustees named a new Women’s Health Center, the Margaret O. Carpenter Women’s Health Center, which opened its doors in 2021. As the first of its kind on the Rockaway Peninsula, the facility offers services ranging from prenatal care to preventative medicine and senior wellness. Carpenter’s life mission to close gaps in healthcare, especially women’s medical care, embodies the St. John’s ICARE Foundation core value of Innovation. She possesses an unparalleled ability to recognize untapped outreach methods and devote herself wholeheartedly to their realization. “Women work very hard [...] so how wonderful to have a […] facility nearby [that] can educate these women how to take care of themselves,” Carpenter explains. In lifting up such vital members of our community, Margaret O. Carpenter is responsible for the betterment of healthcare in the area that so many people call home.

Caption: On March 31, 2022, Episcopal Health Services Inc. (EHS) - the parent organization of St. John's Episcopal Hospital - hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony in celebration of the opening of the Margaret O. Carpenter Women's Health Center located at 105-028 Rockaway Beach Blvd. in Rockaway Park. Pictured L-R are The Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, President and Chair, Episcopal Health Services Inc.; Mr. Gerard M. Walsh, CEO, Episcopal Health Services Inc., Trustee Member; Ms. Renee Hastick-Motes, Vice President, External Affairs, Episcopal Health Services Inc. and President, St. John's ICARE Foundation; Mrs. Margaret O. Carpenter, Former Second Vice-President, Episcopal Health Services Inc.; and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.