BUSINESS

Benefis Foundation contributes $1.45 million

From Tribune Reports

The Benefis Foundation contributed more than $1.45 million in 2014 to health care programs and projects in Great Falls and the region, Foundation President Dan Hollow reported to the foundation’s board of directors last week.

“With the hospital system covering the foundation’s administrative costs, every dollar donated is a dollar we can put toward making a difference in the lives of our loved ones and ensuring the continued excellence of our health care services, ” said Chris Reiquam, chairman of the foundation board.

Funds raised through Mayfaire 2013 paired with individual gifts will pay for about half of the $1.5 million project that transformed the old Benefis Alzheimer’s Unit at the Benefis Senior Care Center (now called Benefis Eastview) into the colorful new Memory Care Unit, with all private rooms, a meandering pathway for residents and other features specifically designed for people with dementia. The first $100,000 of the foundation’s share was paid in 2014 with the rest to follow this year.

“Residents moved into the new unit in early February and family members and staff really enjoyed personalizing the new ‘apartments’ with precious photos and other personal items,” Hollow said. “Their new home has greatly enhanced their quality of life, and it’s largely thanks to our donors.”

Donations and endowment earnings totaling $460,000 went to wrap up an expansion project at the Peace Hospice Residential Facility from 12 to 20 rooms and to support ongoing operations there. This project, 100 percent funded by philanthropy, made it possible for nearly 300 people last year to receive the specialized end-of-life care provided at the facility — 87 more than in 2012 there were waiting lists.

The foundation provided $179,000 raised through Mayfaire 2014 to the Benefis Heart & Vascular Institute to buy a CryoAblation system to enhance the institute’s new Electrophysiology Program.

Gifts totaling $175,000 were used to support the Benefis Sletten Cancer Institute by providing equipment and technology as well as wigs, bras and breast prostheses, exercise classes, support groups and massages for local and regional cancer patients.

And Gift of Life Housing Centers, largely funded through gifts to the foundation of $27,711, served as a home away from home for 311 people, most of whom were patients from the region who were undergoing treatment at the Sletten Cancer Institute or parents who had a baby in the Benefis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The Greatest Need, which is overseen by the foundation’s board of directors, helped with several efforts including a $1,000 contribution for an exercise program at the Great Falls Senior Center; hundreds of bike helmets given out at the annual Safety First Rally and through the Benefis Emergency Room with a $1,000 contribution; a $800 purchase of EpiPens for emergency use at the Westside Orchard Garden; an $2,500 purchase of automated external defibrillator and CPR mannequins for training purposes for the Montana Council Boy Scouts of America; a $2,500 purchase of equipment and seeds for the Farm in the Dell vocational program for developmentally disabled adults; the purchase of thousands of books to be given out to children through the Reach Out and Read Program at Benefis Pediatrics with a $4,000 donation; and much more.

Another technological advancement the foundation helped make possible is partial funding, $19,850, for the addition of breast tomosynthesis or 3-D mammography to the Benefis Radiology Department. The highly focused, clearer 3-D images make it easier for radiologists to decipher between what is dense breast tissue and what is breast cancer. Since October, many of the 30 to 40 daily mammograms have been performed using this technology.

The foundation’s Angel Fund made it possible for 65 families to have an easier time traveling away from home to receive specialized medical care for their critically ill children with $42,500 in allocations. The 221 Children’s Fund’s $6,700 contribution helped an additional 15 families get the special care their children need.

Donor support of the Children’s Bereavement Program allowed 29 children who are suffering the loss of a parent, sibling, grandparent or other loved one spend five days at Camp Francis in the Little Belt Mountains using nature, artwork, music and more to work through their grief.

An additional 14 bereaved children, who weren’t able to attend Camp Francis, attended Carol’s Day Camp. And 24 teenagers suffering the loss of a loved one were served through Darcy’s Hope Teen Retreat. About $33,640 was allocated for Children’s Bereavement Program services.

Along with technology to enhance the hospital, the foundation provided hundreds of hours of education, training and advancement certifications for caregivers in several Benefis departments, including Labor & Delivery, Pediatrics, the Laboratory and Emergency Services.

The foundation awarded $73,500 in health care scholarships in 2014 to 29 college students.

The Benefis Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve and enhance health care services for people in Great Falls and the region.

For more information, go to www.benefisfoundation.org or call 406-455-5840.