In helping to fulfill the Franciscan Health System’s mission to create healthier communities, the Franciscan Foundation distributed nearly $300,000 in community grants during the 2008 fiscal year that ended June 30.
These grants were awarded to South Sound agencies and Franciscan facilities that are working to improve the health and well being of residents in communities that the Franciscan organization serves. The grants are funded by unrestricted gifts from Franciscan donors in support of the healing ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis and the faith-based Franciscan organization.
“As one of the largest organizations in the South Puget Sound region, we take our commitment to the communities and people we serve very seriously,” said Jon Flora, Franciscan Foundation president. “These grants are just one of the many ways Franciscan goes above and beyond the community benefit requirements for a tax-exempt, not-for-profit health care organization.”
Major recipients of the Foundation’s 2008 grants included the University of Washington-Tacoma for nursing scholarships; the ARK Institute for Learning to pay for additional trained therapists and increase scholarships available to clients struggling with learning disorders; and the PenMet Foundation to build a Boundless™ playground in Gig Harbor for children both with and without disabilities or critical illnesses.
Other organizations receiving Franciscan Foundation support this year include Kids At Hope NW Training & Resource Center; St. Clare Hospital Certified Music Practitioner Program; Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care; St. Anthony Hospital; Goodwill Industries; Reach Ministries; Special Olympics Washington; The Fund for Women & Girls; The Mustard Seed Project of Key Peninsula; and Young Life’s Malibu Club.
For more information or to make a donation to the Franciscan Foundation, please go online to http://www.foundation.fhshealth.org/or call 253-428-8411.
The Franciscan Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Franciscan Health System, which includes 6,300 employees, four hospitals and more than 50 clinics in Pierce, King and Kitsap counties. Franciscan Health System is affiliated with Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the largest non-profit health systems in the U.S.
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Franciscan Health Systemincludes St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way; Enumclaw Regional Hospital in Enumclaw; St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor (opens in 2009); Franciscan Medical Group (a network of primary care and specialty care clinics and physicians); and Franciscan Hospice House in University Place. In addition to medical, surgical and emergency care, the Franciscan organization is the leading provider of cardiac and surgical weight loss services in the South Puget Sound region. Franciscan has received the 2007 Washington State Quality Award in recognition of its high quality and performance excellence. Franciscan is affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the nation’s largest non-profit health care systems. Franciscan website: http://www.fhshealth.org/