The St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation was able to do a lot last year thanks to the generosity of the community.
The organization held its annual general meeting on May 29. Interim executive director Travis Frank said the foundation had overall revenue of $1.1 million, including revenues from the operations of the hospital foundation’s clinic, which houses physicians’ offices. Donations and fundraisers were also big contributors.
The foundation received $86,000 through general donations last year, compared to $67,000 the previous year.
“Overall it was a great year, which is really good to see,” said Frank. “I think the economy is starting to come back a little bit, so there’s maybe a little more confidence in what people can give.”
Their three main fundraisers – the Radiothon for Life in April, the Colour my Foundation Colour Run in June and the Festival of Trees in November – posted a net income of $358,000. Those three fundraisers generated about $174,000 in net income the previous year.
“The Festival of Trees continues to grow, so there was a little more money from that,” said Frank.
The foundation spent $493,475 on capital expenses, which includes equipment purchases for the hospital. Among the purchases were an endoscopy cautery machine for $15,000, a ventilator for the emergency room for $15,000, a bathtub in Unit A for @5,000, two patients lifts for Unit A and a patient lift for long-term care for $8,000, surgical equipment for long-term care for $40,000, a dishwasher upgrade for food services for $25,000, and a boiler rebuild in maintenance for $55,000.
“There was a lot smaller medical equipment throughout the hospital, but all definitely vitally-needed items,” said Frank.
The foundation also purchased new seating in the foundation clinic, thanks to donations from local families, and equipment for the new women’s health clinic, operated by Dr. Ahmad Sawwan, who arrived last year as Estevan’s gynecologist and obstetrician.
Operating the clinic represents a big expense, he said. The foundation pays all of the expenses of the building, including property taxes and expenses for the physicians. The foundation is also nearing the end of the mortgage payments for the clinic building.
“We do run a small deficit at the clinic, and the reason for that is we want to make sure that we have a very attractive space for doctors to want to be able to practice out of,” said Frank. “We want to make sure that when they’re considering opening a practice in Estevan, that we have the best turn-key operation they could possibly have. It goes hand-in-hand with recruitment.”
The number of physicians in the clinic determines whether they’re at a break-even or a loss.
According to Frank, physician recruitment will continue to be a focus for the foundation this year. Dr. Boye Adeboye started practising in the city last month, and two more are now here.
“Our board of directors, which is made up mostly of our municipal contributors, who give a fair amount of money, and usually designate a small portion towards doctor recruitment, and a larger portion towards new equipment, have decided this year to shift some of that to push with a little more money towards doctor recruitment.”
That will cover costs such as meeting with doctors, relocation and setup, which varies from doctor to doctor.
The foundation also elected its board of directors for this year at the meeting. John Billesberger will be the chairperson, Roy Ludwig is the vice-chairperson and Bridget Bittman is the secretary. Leona Burkhart, Diane Fornwald, Wanda Michel and Kelly Lafrentz are community representatives on the board, and there are also municipal representatives.
