Fundraising to buy equipment for the new Allen County Regional Hospital is almost halfway to its $4.8 million goal. GETTING DOWN to earth, Michael appreciates any and all sizes of gifts.
Last week’s gift of $15,000 by Great Southern Bank helped tip the scales over the $2 million mark.
“For a long time we were hovering around $1.8 million,” said Susan Michael, director of Allen County Community Foundation, which manages money given to the fundraising campaign, Uniting For Excellence. Along with purchases for the new hospital, the campaign hopes to have $1 million set aside for an endowment to perpetuate funds for the hospital.
The campaign has been in full swing since the first of the year. Its “quiet phase,” began in December 2011.
“Now we’re in the active, in-your-face mode,” Michael said.
What perhaps has been misunderstood, is why fundraising is needed. After all, county voters overwhelmingly passed a 10-year quarter-cent sales tax in 2010 to build the $25 million hospital and the $5 million needed in start-up capital. On top of that, another half-cent sales tax was directed by Iola commissioners.
That’s true. But of that $30 million, only $2 million was budgeted to purchase an estimated $6 million in needed new equipment.
County officials agreed to base the issuance of the $30 million in municipal bonds on past business revenue of the hospital.
That was a conservative estimate on the debt service, for which Allen County residents should be grateful.
Still, it creates the need for funds to purchase equipment — that don’t come cheap. A new CAT scan, for instance, has a $500,000 price tag.
Great Southern’s gift will help purchase a new lab microscope and a blood gel system.
For those who give $25,000 and up, they also get the opportunity to have a room in the new hospital named after them. The family of the late Helen and Howard Gilpin, for example, have the hospital’s board room named after them because of their parents’ bequest.
Mary Ellen Stadler’s gift of $60,000 in 2001 will now secure her name in memory on one of the deluxe patient rooms.
Some opt for anonymity. A gift of $500,000 has been requested to be kept under wraps, Michael said.
Many are crafting gifts to the new hospital out of their wills. Michael recalled a recent gift of $150,000 left through a life insurance policy.
“Our pledges range from $25 per month to $100,000 per year for five years,” Michael said.
For a gift of $1 million or more, the entire hospital campus will bear the donor’s name.
“There’s no gift too small,” she said.
To date, the hospital has received 375 gifts totaling $2,028,207.73.
Think about the important role a hospital plays in a county. Sometimes it’s the deciding factor for industries scouting possible sites. It’s what helps bring a high caliber of employees to an area. It’s what provides hundreds of good jobs in its own right.
Then see what role you want to play. You’ll fit right in, whatever the size.
— Susan Lynn
