Blog
July 02, 2009
In June, Tim McVey, CPA and CFO of Mission Regional Medical Center, Mrs. Nora Shah, Trustee of The Foundation and Chair of the Fundraising Committee, and I attended the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy's Annual Conference. It was the first time for each of us to attend an AHP event, and we learned so much! While Tim sat in on all of the Major & Planned Giving sessions, Nora and I attended the sessions on Leadership and Best Practices. Topics ranged from "Engaging Physicians" to "Enhancing Your Board's Performance", and all were designed to help nonprofit healthcare organizations create change and build a culture of philanthropy in their community.
My favorite session was "I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One for a Day!" The foundation directors at Lakeland Regional Medical Center shared lessons learned from their Community Intern Program (CIP). This program has been remarkably successful in cultivating community investment in Lakeland Regional, by bringing stakeholders into the hospital to experience it from the inside out. Program participants spend one day behind-the-scenes observing first-hand the center's clinical environment and its provision of patient care. The CIP is something of which I had heard before, but the Lakeland presentation prepared me to bring it home to Mission Regional, where we are currently developing the pilot program. Look for the CIP @ MRMC program launch sometime in early 2010!
