Campaign directs $800,000 to hospital

Trustees of the new Allen County Regional Hospital accepted a gift of $800,000 Tuesday night from members of the Uniting for Excellence Hospital Campaign.
“I am overwhelmed,” said Ron Baker, chief executive officer of the hospital.
The gift comes from an accumulation of large and small donations alike received over the course of the fundraising campaign for the new hospital and will be used to purchase new equipment.
“It all adds up,” said Mary Ann Arnott, who has been involved with the fundraising arm.
To date, the fundraising campaign has raised $1,796,997 in cash and pledges, said Susan Michael, executive director of the Allen County Community Foundation, which oversees funds raised in the campaign. The goal is $3.2 million.

AT THEIR meeting, trustees did not approve the construction of a canopy that was to extend over the loading dock at the back of the new hospital. Its price tag, in the neighborhood of $42,000, hit the trustees as too high.
“I’d rather spend the money on equipment that will generate revenue,” said Baker, when asked for his opinion.
The building project is under budget by almost $10,000 with about $2.7 million left in the pot, as well as another $770,000 in the owners’ contingency fund, said Sheldon Streeter, project manager with Murray Construction.

A PROGRAM to have fourth-year medical students and students fairly along in their residency programs to work alongside physicians at the hospital is being explored. Baker said representatives from the University of Kansas Medical School visited with him about rural residency rotations. Students would spend a month at a time working at the hospital to get the feel of a rural setting.
“All we’d be out is room and board,” he said.
The program would be a good way to recruit physicians, on both ends of the stick, he said.
“They’d see what our area is like and we’d see how they practice medicine before any decisions were made,” he said.

TRUSTEES will meet again next week beginning at 6 p.m. The earlier meeting is to discuss signage and promotional materials. The meetings are open to the public.