Madison Valley Hospital Foundation and Madison Valley Properties Launch $2.2 Million Capital Campaign

Funds raised will bring state-of-the-art radiology equipment to the community, improving quality of care for residents and visitors

The Madison Valley Hospital Foundation and Madison Valley Properties, developers of Sun West Ranch recently joined forces to kick off their effort to raise $2.2 million toward purchasing state-of-the-art radiology and imaging equipment for the new Madison Valley Hospital & Clinic (MVH&C).

The MVH&C is currently under construction, an effort funded in part by the more than $1.6 million raised through Sun West Ranch’s Project Giveback and additional generous community support. The facility is slated for completion this winter. The hospital serves the 1,000 year-round Madison Valley residents, plus the many travelers and part-time residents who each year need medical attention.

The equipment will replace outdated technology that doesn’t meet the level of medicine that the new hospital will establish. The current X-ray equipment, for example, produces sub-standard images and is unable to accommodate patients who are not ambulatory. The new equipment list includes a portable X-ray machine, a digital x-ray machine, ultrasound equipment and a CT scanner, all of which enhance the services available at MVH&C.

“With this new equipment, we’ll greatly improve the level of care available within our community,” says Jamie Davis, chief operations officer/human resources for MVH&C. “Plus, by having access to this state-of-the-art technology, we’ll be able to treat patients right here in Ennis rather than sending them to hospitals that are 50 miles or more away.”

"Together with Madison Valley Properties, the hospital foundation in the coming months will reach out to the community through various fundraising efforts to garner support for the radiology needs. Donations already are coming in," Davis says. The foundation also recently began searching for an executive fundraiser to help with the cause.

“We’ve been involved with fundraising for more than two years now, and we’re consistently reminded that a new building is only part of the challenge of ensuring the community has access to quality care,” says Heidi Gildred, a foundation member and a developer of Sun West Ranch with her husband, Ted. “We also need to equip our medical care providers with the tools they need.”

The Gildreds have been involved with the hospital since they started Project Giveback, a program that included $1.1 million in donations from the couple. The hospital construction project alone is estimated to cost approximately $10 million.

The new building, made possible with generosity from the entire Madison Valley community, and the addition of the new radiology equipment will reestablish MVH&C as a Critical Access Hospital (CAH). CAH facilities receive cost-based reimbursements from Medicare, which helps them to remain solvent and to keep their doors open to the communities they serve. The old facility’s space and equipment no longer met the standards to qualify as a CAH. However, the new hospital and the technology it includes will ensure that the Madison Valley community receives quality care close to home.

About Sun West Ranch and Project Giveback

Launched in July 2006, Project Giveback was initiated when Sun West Ranch developers Ted and Heidi Gildred pledged an initial $100,000 donation to the MVH&C and requested a matching $100,000 fundraising effort by the community. For every $100,000 raised by the community and every additional Sun West Ranch property sold, the MVH&C was eligible for a $100,000 donation from the Gildreds. The project was so successful; the Gildreds pledged an additional $600,000 in June 2006.

Sun West Ranch is a shared-ranch outside Ennis, Mont., that combines residential properties, preserved land and protected wildlife corridors. Sun West Ranch’s 55 home sites take up just 400 acres, with the remaining 1,600 acres designated as shared open space between all owners.

http://www.sunwestranch.com.

For information on contributing to the campaign, e-mail [email protected] or call 406-682-4501 to speak with MVC&H President Dave Hajny or Administrative Assistant Donita Powell.