Dear Stakeholders/Community Partners:

RE: St. Joseph’s General Hospital Foundation – Planning for the Future

St Joseph’s General Hospital and St Joseph’s General Hospital Foundation are very grateful to you for the many years of support. Together we have been able to help sustain and enhance quality healthcare for our family members and loved ones.

Providing clarity on the plans for the Foundation relative to the new hospital and new role for St Joseph’s will be important to honor the wishes of you the donors and to assure continued ongoing support in the future.

There is an opportunity for the Foundation to be proactive in determining the future direction for the Foundation and expand the purpose of the Foundation to encompass both the new VIHA Comox Valley Hospital and continue to support St Joseph’s in its new role.

The following history and background is provided for your reference.

History:

The St Joseph General Hospital Foundation was formally established in 1993 and exists to further the aims of St Joseph’s General Hospital through raising funds to support hospital needs including the purchase of equipment, supporting renovations, programs and educational needs.

With the announcement of the NI Hospitals Project (which includes the building of two new acute care hospitals, one in the Comox Valley and one in Campbell River) the acute care services currently provided at St Joseph’s General Hospital will transfer to the new Comox Valley Hospital and be owned, governed and managed by VIHA. With this announcement, it is anticipated that the acute care services in the Comox Valley and the role of the SJGH will change. There is a need and opportunity for the St Joseph’s General Hospital Foundation to examine how it may respond to these changes.

Background:

The new North Island Hospital for the Comox Valley was announced in the Spring of 2012. Planning has commenced and the target date for completion of the new hospital is 2017. The Request for Proposals is being completed with a goal of providing it to the P3 proponents by March 2013.

The role that St. Joseph’s General Hospital may play when acute care services transfer has not yet been determined. It will likely take a year or so before the role is clarified. The Diocese of Victoria has expressed support for the exploration of a new role focusing on health and seniors care needs. The 125 complex care beds in The Views will remain on site and become part of the new role for St Joseph’s. A partnership exists with the Hospice Society and there is a common interest in developing a hospice unit on site that will become part of the new role for St Joseph’s. The hospital also has a long standing partnership with Glacier View Lodge and wishes to work in a cooperative manner with Glacier View Lodge in the development of a new role. Initial discussions are starting regarding additional seniors’ care, ambulatory care and various support services for the new hospital.

St Joseph’s General Hospital and the Foundation have considerable community recognition and a solid reputation. The community has been very generous over the years in supporting the hospital. At this time, with the plans for the new hospital and the lack of clarity around the new role for St Joseph’s, some donors have questions regarding how donations and equipment purchased through the Foundation may be impacted relative to the new hospital.

While timeframes and clarity of roles are not fully understood relative to the new Comox Valley Hospital and St Joseph’s General Hospital, this is an opportunity for the Foundation to explore options to support changes that are occurring in the community. Once a decision is made with regards to the changing role a communication plan will to be developed to provide information on changes to donors and the community at large. Dependant on the desire from the community, the operational resources and structure will need to be reviewed to assure fit with changes to the expanded role.

Discussions have occurred with VIHA expressing the Foundation’s interest in evolving to also serve the new hospital and they are waiting to hear from us following this input from our stakeholders.

By being proactive and working toward a preferred option the Foundation can best influence its future, support continued fundraising by providing clarity and assuring donors wishes can be honored.

A key step in moving forward is to obtain feedback from you “our valued stakeholder”

In considering the future role of St. Joseph’s General Hospital Foundation, we wish to invite you to share your comments on expanding the purpose of the Foundation to encompass both the new VIHA Comox Valley Hospital and continue to support St Joseph’s in its new role.

Please share your comments with us:

Email:
info@cvhospitalfoundation.com

Phone:
250-890-3046