INNISFAIL – In what is considered a historic and progressive move for health care in Innisfail and area, a new 13-member Innisfail Health Centre Fundraising Committee has been launched alongside a $475,000 campaign to purchase 28 acute care beds.
The official launch was held before dozens of keenly interested Innisfailians during the evening of Nov. 27 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre.
“I think it's historic because it's a brand-new committee starting, a historic moment in time is what they were getting at, and hopefully it continues on for some time,” committee chair Brent Jackson told the Albertan following his event-opening presentation. “The big thing about it is that the hospital has been a big part of everyone's lives in town.”
The new Innisfail Health Centre Fundraising Committee now joins the Rimbey Hospital Legacy Committee, Sundre Hospital Futures Committee and Olds Health Care Fundraising Committee under the umbrella of the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation (WHF).
In June of 2024, the new Innisfail committee was voted in by WHF as a legal entity that is governed under provincial health authorities’ legislation. The WHF reports directly to Alberta Health.
Most importantly for committee members, fundraising for the needs of the Innisfail Health Centre will become more structured under the auspices of WHF, and the community is expected to become more involved on future decisions for the hospital.
“I can see already by the response to the invitation for tonight, the response when I got the Facebook page set up, that people are excited about it. They can see that this is something that's been needed for a long time now,” said IHCFC secretary Susan Roy, adding hospital staff did their best in the past to raise money but more organization was needed. “It didn’t have structure and it didn’t really involve the community in a big way.”
And when donations were made to the Innisfail Health Centre their management and disbursement were taken on by the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation that held them in trust.
“They worked with the staff to look at what the needs were, but we didn't really have that community voice as to what the community felt the needs were. We just had the hospital staff voice,” said Roy, acknowledging with Jackson that project proposals for the hospital are vetted by Alberta Health Services. “So now this committee brings that broader community voice into identifying the needs, agreeing to what the needs are, and also doing the fundraising.”
On Nov. 19 the Innisfail fundraising committee issued a news release stating rural hospitals and health centres are faced with the choice of whether to attempt creating a committee that would operate under the guidance and licensing of an established foundation or becoming entirely independent.
“Very few had committees in place to maintain an active presence in their respective communities. Even fewer were in the position to become fully independent,” said the release.
Innisfail decided to go under the umbrella of the well-established Wetaskiwin foundation, which is now celebrating 38 years of fundraising in its jurisdiction.
Will the new Innisfail fundraising committee have full autonomy within the umbrella foundation to make the best decisions for the town and area it serves?
John Strong, executive director for the Wetaskiwin foundation, told the Albertan his agency will give the new Innisfail fundraising committee “a lot of autonomy.
“Your committee has created a terms of reference. Our board has accepted that. So, in those terms of reference it gives them all the autonomy to make decisions with the Innisfail money,” said Strong.
“Our board has relinquished control of that money, and we just hold it in trust,” he said, adding the WHF’s main task is to ensure the Innisfail committee is following guidelines laid out through provincial legislation.
“Their money is held in separate bank account. It's not pooled with our money or any of the other committees’ money. They make full decisions on what happens with their money.”
As for a benefit of having another committee join the Wetaskiwin foundation, Strong said it creates an even stronger voice advocating for rural health care.
In the meantime, both Jackson and Roy strongly believe it was the right move for Innisfail to go with the Wetaskiwin option as opposed to immediately setting up a foundation.
They agree the WHF has the staff and expertise to guide them through Innisfail’s first fundraising campaign to raise $475,000 for 14 air beds and 14 acute care beds, and into the future through the many Alberta Health Services policies.
“They bring that expertise to the table and guide us as we're making those decisions,” said Roy. “And so it's not a fact of them trumping us. It's just them guiding us with their expertise and their knowledge of how Alberta Health Services works and how the foundation world works.”
