EDMONDS – Stevens Hospital officials say they want to get more involvement from the public, by planning to restart the hospital’s foundation, which was shut down in 2003.
“It needs to come back,” said Fred Langer, board president, said Wednesday.
The foundation has not only raised money to help provide needed equipment for the hospital, it helped build community support, he said.
“After the foundation was shut down, I think a lot of people were disappointed,” Langer said. “We want to see that positive energy harnessed.”
When the Stevens Foundation was closed, its assets of $778,099 were transferred to the hospital, one of several factors that reduced net losses in 2003 to $2.5 million.
Foundation fundraisers, such as an annual golf tournament, provided a social outlet for the hospital and the community that “needs to come back,” he said.
“It’s not a question of if, but when,” Langer said, adding that he would like the foundation to reopen by December.
Board members said they also would like volunteers to advise to the hospital board with four newly formed committees: quality, planning, finance and executive.
The hospital board’s five publicly elected members have just been assigned to these committees.
The board will seek two volunteers with backgrounds in each of these areas, Langer said.
Board members will define the background they would like the volunteers to have to serve on each committee over the next couple of months, he said.
Langer said due to the meeting dates of the new committees, the hospital board will likely change its monthly meeting to the fourth Wednesday of the month, from the third Wednesday of the month. The change could come by July, Langer said.
In other action, a report on the hospital’s financial health by the firm KPMG was made to the board on Wednesday. A copy of the report was scheduled to be posted on the hospital’s Web site today, said spokeswoman Beth Engel.
The report notes that the hospital has had operating losses over the past six years, its operating debt has increased and its overall cash and investments have declined.
While the financial trend “is not sustainable over the long term,” the current administration has taken steps over the past year to improve the hospital’s financial performance, the report says.
“We support the administration in their efforts,” it adds.
Hospital officials say they hope to break even financially this year.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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