BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – Community members gathered recently at the The Event Center at Brushy Fork for the announcement of the 2021 St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation Campaign for Women’s Health.
This year’s campaign strives to provide the Center for Women’s Health and the Obstetrics Department with equipment and facility upgrades. A portable ultrasound unit for the Center for Women’s Health, as well as fetal monitoring systems and various room upgrades for the Obstetrics Department, will expand the hospital’s services and improve the comfort and well-being of patients. Room upgrades include four postpartum beds, two couches that convert into beds and eight cushioned gliding chairs.
“This year’s campaign is women’s health,” said Traci Ellis, who is co-chairing the campaign along with Steve Holmes. “We’re really excited. The big goal is $225,000, and we’ve earmarked items in need for women’s health.”
One advantage to the foundation is that donations are put to use promptly right here in Upshur County, benefiting local patients.
“Whatever money we raise… we spend it on things for the hospital, immediately, and move forward,” said John Haskins, St. Joseph’s Foundation President.
There are various ways to support the campaign through monetary donations, bequests in a will, joining the Heritage Society, donating trusts or non-cash gifts such as stocks or IRA.
Donors to the campaign will be recognized on St. Joseph’s social media accounts, website and newsletter. Also, names of donors will be engraved in a plaque to be placed in the Obstetrics Department at St. Joseph’s Hospital. They will also be honored in an end-of-year celebration.
The campaign comes as the hospital celebrates its 100th anniversary. In 1921, the Pallottine Missionary Sisters purchased the Barlow Estate, which overlooked Buckhannon, and converted it into an eight-bed hospital and convent in which they lived. On March 28, 1921, they opened the hospital, which has over the past century “transformed from an eight-bed hospital to a 25 in-patient bed and 16 long-term bed hospital and multi-faceted medical community, serving the needs of residents of Buckhannon, Upshur County and all of central West Virginia,” according to a city proclamation honoring the recent milestone.
In 2015, the Sisters transferred sponsorship of the hospital to United Hospital Center and WVU Medicine, and the services offered by the hospital have continued to expand.
St. Joseph’s Hospital delivered 306 babies, handled 12,916 emergency room visits and saw 7,991 PromptCare walk-in clinic visits in 2020, President and CEO Skip Gjolberg said during the campaign kickoff.
The foundation was formed in 1994 to secure charitable support, to develop relationships with community and business leaders and to advocate and promote the hospital’s mission.
Donations can be made via St. Joseph’s Hospital website, www.stj.net, on the “Give to St. Joseph’s” tab at the bottom of the page; via mail to St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, One Amalia Drive, Buckhannon, WV 26201; or by calling 304-473-6819.
