St. Luke's Hospital Foundation Information

St. Luke's Hospital Foundation was established in October 1991, to raise funds for projects designed to enhance the delivery of high-quality healthcare to St. Luke's service area. Please visit our Website here. Funds are used to make significant facility improvements, purchase clinical and diagnostic equipment, and increase the Foundation's endowment through planned giving. Past fundraising projects have included renovating 33 patient rooms in 2002 and 2003 and upgrading the Emergency Department in 2004. In 2005, funds were raised for an Automated Medication Dispensing System, which has helped reduce medication errors. In 2006, the Foundation raised $250,000 for a new Registration and Emergency Waiting Area at the rear entrance of the hospital. During 2007, $275,000 was raised to digitize Mammography at St. Luke's. Beginning in 2008, the Foundation undertook Excellence in Care to upgrade patient care and surgical equipment at the hospital as well as address Information Services infrastructure. During the first year of the Excellence in Care campaign, significant grant amounts were received primarily in support of Dr. Rosenberg's orthopedic efforts and renovations/upgrades to surgical suites and equipment. The Cannon Foundation granted $50,000 for orthopedic upgrades. Additional awards also provided support for new equipment in our Physical and Occupational therapy unit and we received a Government HCOF grant of $235,600 to support our Information Technology (IT) systems. The 2010 Building on Excellence awards reflected major support from the Duke Endowment for Electronic Medical Records and grants from the Polk County Community Foundation to purchase 6 Computers on Wheels. An additional $8,500 was received from the Incumbent Workforce Training Program to support IT training for many of St. Luke's employees. In FY-2011, $76,054 was raised by the Foundation for multiple projects, including the purchase of approximately 45 personal computers, 6 new hospital beds, and an Omnicell® supply system for our surgical suites. We also purchased 10 recycling bins for placement throughout the hospital and raised funds for conference travel and continuing education for staff and physicians. The Foundation also received funds for Parish Nursing community outreach activities. St. Luke's received over $275,000 in grant funding during FY-2012. The most important event of 2012 was unquestionably groundbreaking for the hospital's new post-surgical and rehabilitative therapies wing. Our Building on Excellence 2012 Capital Campaign committed two million dollars toward the construction of the six-bed, 6.1 million dollar, 15,000 square foot addition, designed with a patient- and family-centric approach to medical care. Polk County Community Foundation (PCCF) funded a MRSA analyzer for our lab to reduce turnaround time for blood analysis from 36 hours to less than two. Thanks to a two-year award from The Duke Endowment, we are developing the Western North Carolina Telemedicine project, linking St. Luke's Hospital with the Saluda Medical Center and Polk Wellness Center. This year's Small Hospital Improvement Program grant enabled us to purchase new physical therapy equipment and the annual Ache Around the Lake 8k race provided funds to upgrade and renovate the Center of Behavioral Medicine, our 10-bed geriatric psychiatry unit. Funds were used to paint, install new flooring in the nurses' station and main hallway, and make general repairs and other enhancements throughout the Center. FY-2013 has been another productive year for Foundation grants despite a marked decline in general grant opportunities, primarily due to the economy. In October 2012, Spartanburg Regional Hospital donated a new defibrillator to our Emergency Department and, in November, PCCF provided funds for conference travel and continuing education for staff. St. Luke's received second year funding of $70,000 from The Duke Endowment to continue development of the Western North Carolina Telemedicine Program. We recently applied for an additional two years to expand the geographic region covered by this project and include telepsychiatry and other medical specialties to the list of available services. Home Depot in Spartanburg generously donated $1,000 in paint and miscellaneous supplies to help renovate the geriatric psychiatry department (in addition to almost $30,000 in 2012 Ache Around the Lake funding) and Stonecutter Foundation provided $1,000 in unrestricted grant funds. We also received $1,500 from the Carolina Foothills Chamber of Commerce toward purchase of a new blanket warmer for St. Luke's. Our Building on Excellence campaign received two major donations for naming opportunities in our new post-surgical wing. One was from the Polk County Community Foundation (PCCF) and another from the Ann L Turner & Geoffrey M Tennant Foundation. In addition, St. Luke's received $50,000 from the Cannon Foundation to support construction of the new wing. PCCF provided grant funds for three professional conferences for St. Luke's staff and a Planning Grant for the Foundation. 2013 marked the first year of a two-year Lean Training program awarded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. First year funding was $50,000 and we recently received another award of $50,000 for Year 2 funding. The December opening of our new, post-surgical wing was a major success and was well received by the community. The Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) grant enabled us to purchase new physical therapy equipment and the 2013 Ache Around the Lake 8k race provided funds to support the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Lab at St. Luke's. Funding helped cover the costs of a simulated kitchen, tub, shower, curb, and motor vehicle, as well as support other projects throughout the ADL Lab. The Foundation has several giving societies: the Palmer & Jervey Society (gifts of $1,000 to $4,999); The Society of 1972 (gift from $5,000 to $9,999); the Society of 1928 (gifts of $10,000 and above); and the Heritage Society ("bequest" society). The Foundation has its own endowment, separate from the hospital's investments, into which all bequests are placed. The full board meets 6 times a year-January, March, May, July, September, and November-on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 5:00pm in the new Foundation Office. New Trustees take office at the annual meeting in January.