Hospital foundation hits $3 million mark

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submitted photo In this early rendering of the front of Jamestown Regional Medical Center, what will be the healing garden is shown as lawn and trees. When completed, the area will be landscaped as a garden and named for Dan, Ed and Florence Kornovich, who farmed in the Pingree, N.D., area.

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The Jamestown Hospital Foundation has hit its $3 million fundraising goal for the $52 million Jamestown Regional Medical Center now under construction.

Jan Barnes, foundation director, said 41 people in the region and around the country have donated $5,000 or more to the capital campaign. But the largest gift came from the estate of area farmer Dan Kornovich, who died in June 2009.

Kornovich donated $1.6 million to the foundation. Barnes said he had no family and while Jamestown Hospital received the largest portion, “he helped numerous entities.”

“He had a lot of services in the hospital and really appreciated the care he received,” she said. “He gave everything else in his trust to other charities. He was very generous with everyone.”

In his honor, the healing garden at the new facility will be named for him and his parents, Ed and Florence Kornovich. The healing garden will be situated on the south side of the hospital in full view of patients in the second floor hospital rooms as well as people in the first floor waiting areas. The garden will feature trees, shrubs, flowers, benches and a fountain, Barnes said.

“We’re doing this because of their love of the land. That was his request,” she said. “It’s a phenomenal gift that will do so much for the new medical center.”

Adding in the Kornovich contribution, the foundation easily reached its $3 million goal. It hit the $1 million mark last March and Barnes said then she knew the community would be generous.

“I’m just in awe about how the capital campaign is going,” she said. “I knew we could do it but not this quickly.”

The Kornovich bequest joins donations from the region and the country. Barnes said most of the donations came from the area, but one of the largest came from California. All the outside contributors have some tie to Jamestown, she said, whether located in Utah, New York, Minnesota or Wisconsin.

Another 41 people have donated $1,000 each for a paver in the healing garden.

Barnes announced the fundraising achievement at the annual foundation dinner last night. The Jamestown Hospital Foundation is celebrating its 25th year and, Barnes said, most of those attending have donated to the hospital in some way. CEO Marty Richman said the foundation’s generosity of providing $2 million in seed money a few years ago helped drive the reality of a new hospital.

The foundation has also taken on the responsibility for raising $1 million for new equipment. Barnes said so far $300,000 has been raised to that end.

“The foundation continues to be a catalyst for action as it brings new technology to the community,” Richman said.

Even more generous, as far as Barnes and Richman are concerned, is that no other areas have suffered financially from the emphasis on raising funds in the capital campaign. Hospice is in its 15th year and support for it remains strong, Barnes said. And the endowment fund is heading toward its second million dollars.

“We have not seen any reduction in donating,” she said. “Our donors are wonderful. They just keep everything going.”

“In general, that’s not the case in a capital campaign,” Richman noted. “In my experience, the money going to other places just dries up. It just shows what a special community we have.”

Other donors to the new hospital include the hospital auxiliary, which pledged $70,000. And the hospital employees have pledged more than $165,000 so far in what’s called the Hour Club.

“It takes a lot of people to make this go,” Barnes said. “$3 million for this small town is a lot. Some people have even come to me wanting to help. I didn’t have to go to them to ask them to donate. That is so nice.”

With the success of reaching the first goal behind them, Barnes said the foundation has taken on the challenge goal of raising another $2 million toward the new hospital. Given the generosity of the community here and around the country, Barnes doesn’t see any difficulty raising the challenge goal or the $1 million for new equipment.

“I just feel we’ve had wonderful support from our donors,” she said.

Richman agreed.

“Given the wonderful support of the community, I’m confident we will achieve the challenge of $5 million,” he said. “In a major recession, here we are increasing the capital campaign goal. That says something about the community and its generosity.”

Sun reporter Toni Pirkl can be reached at (701) 952-8453 or by e-mail at tonip@jamestownsun.com

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