Wyandotte Helps Hospital System Raise $176 Million

Henry Ford Health System announced Wednesday that it is well on target to raise $250 million by 2014.

The Envision Campaign, which is the company’s largest fundraising campaign to date, has raised $176 million since 2007.

Of that, $3.5 million was raised locally through .

"It's through the support and donations of our employees, the Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital Auxiliary, and many of our donors and community members that we have been able to contribute $3.5 million thus far towards the overall Henry Ford Health System Envision Campaign," said Arthur Hudson, director of philanthropy. "This contribution, while still growing, supports the hospital's mission to improve human health one person at a time."

The capital campaign is designed “to transform the way Henry Ford Health System provides care by expanding its facilities and enhancing clinical programs,” officials said.

As part of the fundraising campaign, employees gave back nearly $15 million to the community, a family foundation donated more than $5 million for heart care and a Detroit-based foundation donated $2 million to care for the sickest and tiniest babies. In the last couple of years, there have been a total of 45 gifts totaling $1 million or more.

Hospital officials praised the generosity in light of this being “one of the country’s economically hardest hit areas.”

"Raising $176 million in this economy is an incredible accomplishment," Henry Ford Health System CEO Nancy Schlichting said. "It really speaks to not only the determination and resilience of our community, but the confidence our donors and patients have that Henry Ford Health System will continue to thrive and grow for another hundred years."

The fundraising campaign is now being rolled out to the general public. For more information on giving, visit the Envision Campaign's website.

(Click for a story on a Wyandotte family who has personally benefited from the money raised by the hospital system.)

Envision Campaign Factoids

• The campaign is at 71 percent of its goal, with more than $176 million committed to date through cash and pledges.
• There have been 45 gifts of $1 million or more.
• Henry Ford's philanthropy program has recorded seven consecutive years of growth and number of donors annually.
• Henry Ford employees and physicians have contributed nearly $15 million as part of the annual Community Giving campaign to support patients, the community and co-workers.
• For four consecutive years, 100 percent of the Henry Ford leadership has made an annual charitable gift to benefit Henry Ford.
• Forty-eight current and former Henry Ford physicians and executives have become members of Club 50 by contributing $50,000 or more toward capital funds, totaling more than $5 million to the Envision Campaign to date.
• For five consecutive years, 100 percent of the health system's boards of trustees have given an annual charitable gift to benefit Henry Ford programs and projects.
• A record 20,000 donors supported the campaign in 2010, including more than 12,000 Henry Ford physicians and employees.
• More than 2,200 active volunteers, including 1,500 employee ambassadors, 195 board members and countless campaign workers are driving the campaign.
• Overall, there are 57,710 unique donors who have given to the Envision Campaign.
• Henry Ford has exceeded the national average for efficient fundraising. Its cost per dollar raised is 18 cents, compared with a national average of about 20 cents.
• Funds raised through the Envision Campaign make a significant impact on the hundreds of thousands of patients Henry Fords serves each year. In 2010 alone, Henry Ford provided more than $180 million in uncompensated care to thousands of patients throughout southeast Michigan.
• The campaign also helps to support facility expansion and construction, as well as growth of clinical care programs and patient care technology at Henry Ford Hospital, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital and other areas throughout the health system.

Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital Factoids

• The HFWH Auxiliary made a three-year, $300,000 gift for the purchase of digital mammography equipment at Henry Ford Health Center–Brownstown.
• In 2007, Rosalind Meyer donated $250,000 to renovate the Rosalind Meyer Family Waiting Lounge on the seventh floor of the Cahalan Building on the HFWH campus.
• The estate of Rita Koncewicz donated $150,000 to provide the initial funding for an RN Telephonic Readmission Project for patients.
• The World Heritage Foundation, under the auspices of Waltrud Prechter, made a $150,000 pledge to establish the HFWH Cardiac Cath Lab. About $70,000 of the gift has been paid during the Envision Campaign.
• Dr. Chris Bush and his wife Jan made a two-year, $50,000 gift to establish the Phyllis Edwards Nursing Scholarship Fund for students pursuing careers in pediatric nursing. The fund, in memory of longtime HFWH pediatric nurse and manager Phyllis Edwards, made its first award this spring to two nursing students. The recipients were Jessica Bucska of Southgate and Kristen Humbles of Taylor.
• Since 2004, the Medical Staff Fund has raised more than $1 million. The number of Wyandotte-affiliated physicians giving to the fund increased by 10 percent in 2010.
• HFWH employees increased their donations to the 2011 Community Giving Campaign by 12 percent.
• The Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital's Board of Directors has had a 100 percent track record for giving for at least the last three years.
• The Harvest Moon Ball, now a black tie gala, had about 600 in attendance and raised more than $200,000.
• In October 2011, the Ford Motor Company will host "Get Your Heart Racing" at its test track in Dearborn to a benefit Henry Ford Health System, with the majority of proceeds going to support the HFWH Center for Cardiac Care. Chaired by Alan Mullaly, the event is expected to raise more than $700,000.

(Source: Henry Ford Health System)