It started off in 1986 as the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Foundation.
Now the Humboldt and District Hospital Foundation celebrates 30 years being apart of the community and providing healthcare funding to the area.
On Oct. 21 people gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the Foundation.
They have come a long way, says Executive Director, Lorrie Bunko, and their vision of what they want to bring to the community has not changed.
“For our rural district we work really hard, we listen to the people, we raise funds, we provide great support, and we will continue for the next 30 years to keep providing exceptional healthcare close to home.”
The success of the new hospital has been an important highlight for the Foundation, says Bunko, especially when it came to getting everyone behind the project, and working together to accomplish it. This attitude remains to this day, says Bunko.
“When we talk about community, we mean the whole district. We never want to have people think this is just a Humboldt initiative, this is the whole district, over 300,000 people.”
Without the role of the whole community, Bunko says the Foundation would not be where they are today.
The Foundation has some pretty aggressive goals for the future, says Bunko, including plans to bring new ultrasound equipment in within the next five years.
“Right now, it is looking at around $180,000 so we have to secure funding for that and we have to start putting money away for it.”
Technology has changed over the years, says Bunko, with new advances being made almost daily it seems.
“It’s always going to be expensive no matter which way you look at it.”
For fundraising goals, Bunko says they are aiming to raise $300,000 a year. Right now, the Foundation is raising about $150,000 a year, which means they have a lot of work to do to get where they need to be.
“We know we can do it,” says Bunko.
So what does it take to get a foundation to its 30th anniversary?
Bunko says a lot of volunteerism, volunteer hours, communication within the district, and keeping people in the loop.
“Being comfortable, being transparent is what’s important,” says Bunko.
The celebration night also had some big money being donated. BHP Billiton was on hand to present a cheque for $25,000 to go towards the new Sunrise Clinical Manager System.
Ken Smith with BHP says, this is a tremendous opportunity to partner with the Foundation and provide this new service to Humboldt and area, including for those people living and working at the new Jansen Potash mine.
“We try to focus the majority of our funds that we invest in the province of Saskatchewan to this local area in and around the immediate area of the Jansen Potash project.”
Bunko says BHP has been a great partner for the Foundation as well as other organizations.
They are happy with all their donors but BHP just seems to surprise them, says Bunko.
When Sunrise comes to use in January, people are going to notice a difference, says Bunko, especially when someone needs emergency services.
