Emcee Matt Kurtz entertains as “The Great Kurtzsnac” (a take on Johnny Carson's The Great Carnac), along with Len McBurney on Saturday.

Wallowa County health care received a generous shot in the arm Saturday from a packed Cloverleaf Hall in Enterprise during the 20th annual Healthy Futures Dinner Auction to benefit the Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation.

Foundation Director Stacy Green reported Monday that the event raised about $70,800 before expenses, with additional donations expected to bolster the final tally in the coming days.

Each year’s event is tied to a specific need or purpose, and the 2015 dinner was intended to help bring a new bone-density system — a cost of about $50,000 — to Wallowa Memorial Hospital.

“We appreciate everyone’s support,” Green said. “The county is always unbelievably generous. … We sold every seat.”

The event included a silent auction, dinner, entertainment and a live auction. Local resident Matt Kurtz served as emcee, and Jake Musser of Meridian, Idaho, and his crew handled the live auction.

“Matt Kurtz was great,” Green said. “ He was fantastic, fun and funny.”

Musical guests Carolyn Lochert and Gail Swart serenaded the audience during dinner with a localized, health care version of the Beatles’ “When I’m 64.”

Among the live auction items was a U.S. flag offered by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, who was in attendance. Rep. Walden said the flag would be flown over the U.S. Capitol Building at a predetermined time to honor a veteran or event and returned to the winning bidder. Walden conducted the auction for the flag. When two bidders remained, he offered a second flag, each at a price of $650, for a total of $1,300 raised.

Health District CEO Larry Davy was among the night’s speakers. Davy thanked those in attendance for their continuing generosity and described the key role they play in maintaining one of the country’s top-performing rural hospitals. He also noted that Wallowa Memorial Hospital has been named among the nation’s Top 100 critical access hospitals by iVantage Health Analytics three of the last four years.

Sarah Johnson, Wallowa Memorial’s director of imaging, took the podium to explain the need for this year’s target purchase — a bone-density system that produces a low-radiation X-ray to determine the mass and strength of bones. The system is vital in diagnosing and treating osteoporosis, a common condition that leads to brittle bones that are extremely susceptible to breaks.

“One in every two women is affected by it,” Johnson said. “And one in every four men. It’s a common misconception that it only affects women. That’s not the case.”

The Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation was formed in 1990. The foundation’s first dinner and auction event in 1996 raised about $19,500, and in 20 years the event has brought in more than $900,000 for county health care, according to Green.

Green said she was happy to see two of the foundation’s original founders — Don Swart, Sr. and Mona K. Williams — in attendance this year, as well as two founders’ daughters, Diana Collins (Don Hubbard, Sr.) and Saralyn Johnson (Reid Johnson), who serve on the board, and Gail Swart, whose parents Gwen and Gladys Coffin got the foundation up and running in 1995 with a $500,000 donation.

“It’s great to celebrate what they started and to see the tremendous impact that the foundation and the community has had on our health care,” Green said.

The evening’s dinner was catered by Backyard Gardens, with a full no-host bar by La Laguna.