EDMONDS — Although well on its way to raising $500,000 for two new digital mammography machines, the Stevens Foundation must still raise $225,000 by June.
It is the biggest project the foundation, part of Stevens Hospital, has undertaken since the group was relaunched in December 2006. The hospital’s foundation was shut down in 2003 during a budget crisis.
The hospital has promised to match the foundation’s $500,000 donation for the new machines, said Jack Kirkman, hospital spokesman.
If fundraising goes according to plan, the machines could be delivered to the hospital by the end of this year, he said.
Last year, nearly 10,000 women had mammograms to check for breast cancer at the hospital’s breast center.
In Snohomish County, 584 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, the latest figures available from the Snohomish Health District.
Since breast cancer is affecting so many women in Snohomish County, the hospital has made purchase of the digital diagnostic equipment a priority, Kirkman said. “This is going to be cutting-edge medicine,” he said.
Fundraising for the equipment began last summer with the Do Good Classic, a golfing event held in July.
The campaign has since raised $274,846, said Kit Massengale, director of the Stevens Foundation, with donations from 200 individuals and businesses.
The single biggest gift so far, $50,000, came from the Stevens Hospital Auxiliary, which runs the hospital gift shop.
The fund drive for the new mammography equipment is the first in what the foundation hopes will be a number of projects over the next six years to help provide equipment for the hospital.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
Learn more
For more information on the fund drive, call the Stevens Foundation at 425-640-4068 or go to the hospital’s Web site at www.stevenshealthcare.org and click on the “Stevens Foundation” tab.
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