A new program designed to help the Tyrone Hospital purchase equipment and make capital improvements was unveiled Thursday at the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce\u2019s monthly breakfast meeting.
\nJodi Cessna, executive director of the Blair County Community Endowment, offered a brief, but informative presentation to more than 35 business leaders in the community who was in attendance.
\n\u201cThis program is really about friends helping friends,\u201d said Cessna. \u201cThe Tyrone Hospital sees the community of Tyrone and the surrounding area as friends, and it seems those residents feel the same way about the hospital.
\n\u201cThis endowment fund will allow these residents to make a contribution to the fund and will allow the hospital to benefit from these dollars well into the future.\u201d
\nThe endowment was set up through BCCE, an organization established less than a decade ago in 1995 and commanded by a 21-person board, including Tyrone residents Craig Kilmer and Randy Tarpey. For a one-percent fee, or $100 per year per fund, BCCE administers the program, thus allowing hospital officials to concentrate in other important areas.
\nAccording to Cessna, anyone can contribute to the fund and this contribution can come in many forms, including cash, stocks and bonds, life insurance, excess pension benefits, IRAs and real estate.
\nContributions can be made to the Tyrone Hospital Endowment Fund, 1216 11th Ave., Suite 310, Altoona, PA 16601. Contributions are tax deductible.
\nCessna said the endowment fund works \u201csort of like a community savings account.\u201d
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t call the money it generates interest,\u201d she said. \u201cWe like to refer to it as income.\u201d
\nThomas Bartlett, chief executive officer of the hospital, said he was excited about the program, not only because it will help the hospital\u2019s future needs, but it\u2019s also a symbol of the roots of the institution\u2019s past.
\n\u201cIt was a generous bequest back in 1931 that started the wheels in motion to construct the Tyrone Hospital. The community provided a great deal of support to make the hospital become a reality,\u201d he said. \u201cI think its founders would be proud to see the extent of services offered, the array of technology currently available, and the number of people who now rely on Tyrone Hospital for care.
\n\u201cIt is fitting that we establish this endowment to continue this vision and this giving tradition.\u201d
\nThe endowment also gives contributors another method to honor a loved one \u2013 deceased or living.
\n\u201cWe often here people say \u2018I just wish I could do something special to recognize or remember a loved one or friend\u2019,\u201d said Judith Norris, chairperson of the Tyrone Hospital Board of Directors. \u201cThis endowment fund gives people a vehicle to honor others and insure that quality healthcare remains a vital part of our communities.
\n\u201cThis is particularly important as we work to fulfill our healing mission in an environment of advancing science and technology, challenging economic circumstances, and changing healthcare needs.\u201d
\nIn addition to funds generated by the endowment fund, Tyrone Hospital will continue to carry on its own fundraisers and receive funding from the Tyrone Hospital Development Council, an organization dedicated to raising funds to help the institution with capital improvement projects.
\nThe funds raised by the THDC, historically, have been used immediately to help the hospital with capital equipment. Each year, the council identifies a piece of capital equipment the hospital needs to purchase, and the council raises funds to help with that item.
\nNow that the endowment is in place, the council has the option of depositing some of the funds it raises into the endowment fund, where these dollars can appreciate in value to benefit Tyrone Hospital in the future.
\n\u201cThe Tyrone Hospital Endowment is the cement that assures the delivery of quality healthcare in Northern Blair County for generations to come,\u201d said Randy Miles Sr., chairman of THDC. \u201cEveryone, regardless of background, now has the opportunity to participate and become part of the hospital\u2019s future.\u201d
\nIn the future, each time the council conducts a fundraiser, it will continue to communicate how the dollars will be used and it will also indicate any amount it intends to deposit in the hospital\u2019s endowment fund.
\nFor more information, contact BCCE at 944-6102.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new program designed to help the Tyrone Hospital purchase equipment and make capital improvements was unveiled Thursday at the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce\u2019s monthly breakfast meeting. Jodi Cessna, executive director of the Blair County Community Endowment, offered a brief, but informative presentation to more than 35 business leaders in the community who was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}