Our View: Foundation shouldn't lose pledges

With all that has happened regarding Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, one of the areas not impacted is its most important service, healthcare, and shouldn’t impact donations given to its foundation.

During her presentation to the board two weeks ago, foundation director Tiffany Marshall said public perception of the hospital had been impacted by news regarding the hospital the previous month and resulted in $8,000 of donation pledges pulled from the foundation. While it might sound like a good idea to pull a donation from an organization suffering from a public relations black eye, its a decision that hurts the primary services offered by the hospital.

Healthcare is the main reason why MHSC exists in the first place. Sure, the hospital faces problems with its cash reserves as a result over spending. Yes, the former hospital board displayed a general lack of awareness regarding the hospital’s management. While we’re certain those issues will be ironed out and fixed, none of them affect the quality of care given at MHSC.

Anyone attending board meetings hosted at the hospital within the past month would be impressed by the number of employees filling the classroom space used for those meetings. The employees, speaking to the board, have shown themselves as concerned and dedicated members of the community seeking to support and improve the hospital.

Donations to the foundation support these goals.

They’re not applied to a CEO’s salary or the hospital’s advertising budget. Foundation funds are spent on improving hospital facilities, supporting patient programs and purchasing new equipment.

Those are expenditures that improve the quality of care given at the hospital and improve the experience our friends and neighbors have at MHSC.

While it’s unfortunate those funds were pulled, we believe one of the best ways to help the hospital is donations to its foundation.

While some residents go to Salt Lake City or Evanston to have their healthcare needs taken care of, they’re missing out on quality care that is delivered at home. Donations to the foundation will help improve that care and ultimately help the employees at MHSC build its facility.

That hospital belongs to the people of Sweetwater County. Shouldn’t we invest to build it better than it already is?