Foundation

Funding Tomorrow's Health Care, Today

The spirit of giving is evident at Grundy County Memorial Hospital (GCMH). The hospital you experience today as a patient or visitor is a result of the gifts of hundreds of individuals, families, businesses, and organizations who place a priority on quality health care, close-to-home. Their gifts are made through the GCMH Foundation, which is led by a dedicated board comprised of leaders from the communities served by the hospital.

The GCMH Foundation has played a key role in the success of the Grundy County Memorial Hospital for more than thirty years. In the 1990s, the Foundation worked to raise funds for physician recruitment, health care scholarships, and equipment updates. When a hospital facility upgrade was a critical need in 2003, the Foundation launched its first Touch a Life campaign to support the modernization and expansion effort. A second Touch a Life campaign helped finance the new Inpatient/Med-Surg, Surgery, and Emergency departments that were completed in 2010-2011.  A 2016-2017 campaign helped fund a hospital renovation and Specialty Clinic expansion.  In 2022, the hospital broke ground for a $30.5 million building addition to expand Surgery, Imaging, and the Lab. A $1,000,000 fundraising goal set by the Foundation to support this important project was met as of June 30, 2024. A building dedication and public Open House was held for more than 700 guests in September 2024. 

Each year a variety of Ways to Give are available - from supporting the hospital's Annual Campaign, to considering a Planned Gift, attending a Foundation event, or making a planned gift to help provide the health care you desire for yourself, your family and your neighbors - now and into the future!

Annual Campaign

The Foundation’s Annual Giving Campaign provides the hospital with the means to enhance existing health care services and provide new services when needed. Community members are invited to take part each fall. By providing a consistent yearly source of donated funds, the Annual Campaign enhances our rural hospital’s ability to sustain state-of-the-art technology and the services needed most by residents of the communities we serve.
Gifts that support the Annual Campaign come from business sponsors, individuals and families, GCMH employees, memorials, Grateful Patient gifts, and grants. Two fundraising events are held annually to benefit the Annual Campaign: the Gala & Auction each February and the Fall Fling Luncheon & Style Show & each September.

Planned Giving

Charitable gift planning can be accomplished in many ways – for instance, making a bequest to the GCMH Foundation in your will or estate plan, making a qualified charitable distribution from a retirement plan, or contributing the proceeds from the sale of highly appreciated assets or real estate. Donors who make a bequest or provide an annual planned gift to the Foundation are invited to join the Foundation’s Legacy Partners program. As a Legacy Partner, donors experience the satisfaction of making a gift to sustain high quality local health care for the future. The Legacy Partners Endowment and Bequest funds provide assurance to the hospital that funds will be available for unexpected needs and help provide the assurance of high quality local health care services for decades to come.

If you’re considering a planned gift, you may wish to begin by contacting the Foundation for a discussion of hospital needs and together with your financial advisor or attorney, consider how you may benefit the future of rural health care for Grundy, Butler, Hardin, and Tama counties. 

Types of planned gifts include:

  • Bequests - through a will or other form of estate plan, a deferred gift can provide a gift that extends or replaces a donor's typical annual giving.
  • Beneficiary - designating the Foundation as a beneficiary of a retirement plan, life insurance, an annuity, or a will is a way to allow your gift to extend beyond your lifetime.
  • Charitable Trust - various trusts can be used to provide value to the donor and provide a gift to the Foundation.
  • Property - this can include a gift of securities, insurance policies, and real estate. In a rural community, there is the potential to include the hospital Foundation as the beneficiary of farmland. Also, stocks, bonds and mutual funds can be donated, often with positive tax consequences for your estate.

As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, gifts to the Grundy County Memorial Hospital Foundation are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Specific tax benefits can be discussed in more detail with your attorney or tax advisor.

Donor Recognition

Each donor is recognized for his or her gift with a thank you, a listing in the Foundation's Annual Report, which is mailed in mid-November annually, and a permanent spot on the Donor Wall for accrued gifts totaling $3,000 or more. The Donor Wall is located in the south Outpatient Services lobby, near the laboratory and registration.

Naming rights for single gifts of $10,000 and above to the Foundation for a special capital campaign are available to recognize a donor's outstanding generosity with a room, treatment area, wing, clinic, or other area of the hospital carrying the donor's name.

Planned gifts are also recognized as part of the Foundation's Legacy Partners program, for which a separate recognition wall is located in the Legacy hallway, adjoining the original hospital with the Emergency and Med Surg areas (north of the hospital's East J Cafe).

Ways to Give

All gifts are deeply appreciated and significant. You may mail your donation to: Grundy County Memorial Hospital Foundation, 201 East J Avenue, Grundy Center IA 50638.  For questions about planned gifts, or the Foundation's Legacy Partners program, contact Amanda Steege, Foundation Director, at 319-824-4152 or amanda.steege@unitypoint.org or Click here to donate online today!