Trib Local Arlington Heights
The holidays are here and it’s about this time every year when we begin to see surveys about what to expect from Americans regarding their traditional spending and giving patterns.
Our shaky economy has had many of us tightening our belts, and with good reason. Still, in spite of the tough times, we’ve seen that while Americans may cut back on holiday shopping, the spirit of giving – in time, talent, knowledge and money – is still very much alive.
It is estimated that Americans give more than $300 billion annually to charitable causes. Last year, donations to not-for-profit hospitals across the country totaled $7.6 billion, according to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. These charitable donations help hospitals invest in state-of-the-art facilities, advanced technologies and community outreach programs.
Every day that I come to work at Northwest Community Hospital, I see the impact of philanthropy. To a significant degree, it was because of the generous contributions from members of the community that this hospital could be built 51 years ago. Giving can be that important.
Not-for-profit hospitals serve as the safety net for their communities – facilities where patients can get necessary medical care regardless of their ability to pay. You can always depend on your local hospital, so deciding to support that hospital however you can is undoubtedly a worthwhile endeavor, whether it’s during the holiday season or at other times of the year.
Philanthropy not only can lead to expanded hospital services, but it can provide that margin of difference between a good hospital and a great hospital. There are several examples at NCH, such as the significant role donations played in the opening of our new South Pavilion last spring, or our Busse Center for Specialty Medicine in 2003.
We hope a future example of the impact of philanthropy at NCH will be a new Emergency Room imaging center that would provide faster care and rapid stroke response. Our community can make a difference by helping to make that happen sooner rather than later. You’ll find similar scenarios at not-for-profit hospitals throughout the Chicago area and across the country.
We are running hospitals in a time where we are becoming increasingly dependent on generous contributions from the community. Like many families and businesses, hospitals must do more with less as the country struggles to recover from recession. Philanthropy takes on a new role where it’s even more important for not-for-profit hospitals to raise funds for projects up-front to ensure they get completed on schedule and in the way intended.
What makes our country different is that we don't look to the government to solve our social challenges. Instead we rely on each other to resolve these issues. Clearly, the impact of philanthropy is significant in this regard. The quality of life for all of us would be far less if not for this benevolence toward everything from education to the arts, to the environment, and of course, to healthcare.
(Bruce Crowther is president and CEO of Northwest Community Hospital, and has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare leadership. His column, posted the first Wednesday of every month, provides insight into how healthcare and hospitals work.)