Board and community members gathered at Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) on the evening of Wednesday, June 19 for NHH Foundation’s Annual Meeting.
Foundation CEO, Rhonda Cunningham, led a review highlighting the success of the past year.
She described it as a year that featured both annual activities and expected moments, as well as a smattering of occasional matters and challenges, which the Board and staff took on with gusto.
She highlighted less typical activities, including the Board taking the necessary steps to become
compliant with the new Ontario Not-for-Profit (ONCA) legislation, updating and approving its
Strategic Plan, and, in May 2023, publicly launching the Exceptional Community, Exceptional
Care Campaign.
In spite of the extra efforts required for these special projects, she went on to explain the annual program thrived and broke records on several fronts.
Third-party event revenue was up 24% thanks to the continued support of events such as McHappy Day, the Northumberland Ball, the Marrison garden party fundraiser, and Lemon-Aid for NHH.
The Light up a Life campaign raised an impressive $300,000, funding an automated medication tablet packager. As a result of the community’s generosity, NHH will no longer be one of the few hospitals in the region without this equipment, which has since been ordered and is expected to be fully operational this fall.
Galalicious was once again held in place of a traditional gala and the 2023 event met several milestones, with 568 attendees, 14 venues, and more money than ever raised in the online auction. In recapping the success of this event, this format was highlighted as significantly reducing the cost to raise a dollar from that of the traditional.
Rounding out the annual activities, the Foundation’s planned giving program saw over $2.2 million realized in legacy gifts from 13 people who remembered the Hospital in their Will.
Following Cunningham’s remarks, Ian MacVicar, Board Treasurer, delivered a financial report highlighting overall revenue from operations was $6.7 million, an increase of over 25% compared to fiscal 2023. Expenses were $840,000, a 4% decrease from the previous year.
MacVicar continued his report, sharing that over the course of the fiscal year, the Hospital called
on Foundation funds of almost $2.1 million to invest in new equipment, technology, renovations,
and staff education initiatives. The Hospital has indicated a plan to call on funds of approximately $10 million this year (fiscal 2025).
In line with the Board’s By-Laws, the Audited Financial Statements as at March 31, 2024, were
presented and accepted, and the annual Election of Directors was approved, with one member,
Brenda Heenan, extending her term, and Karen Parker, Wendy Ito, and Pam Went concluding
their service to the Board.
Foundation Chair, Gavin Ivory, closed out the meeting by speaking of his privilege of working
with a Board of Directors whose oversight of the Foundation is effective and whose accomplishments are remarkable. He acknowledged how the initiatives celebrated during themeeting were only accomplished by the Board members, its Committees, Foundation staff, and Hospital partners working together.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
