Impact Mercy foundation announces gifts for 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When it was formed last year, the members of Mercy Foundation’s Impact Mercy wanted to advance Mercy Health Partners’ mission of improving the health care in our community.
Now, a year later, great progress has been made toward that mission as the Impact Mercy program is providing $50,000 to help cancer victims, mothers in labor, senior citizens and the environment in East Tennessee.
“The members of Impact Mercy are in a unique position as they vote on what health care projects to fund with their donations,” said Carlton Long, Mercy Foundation’s regional vice president for philanthropy. “By combining the resources of this group of more than 50 women, Impact Mercy was able to make an impact on some of our area’s most difficult health care issues. I thank the members of Impact Mercy for their enthusiastic interest in their choice of the projects they will fund this first year.”
The 2009 Impact Mercy programs and amounts awarded were:
• $10,000 in start-up funding for the Mercy Indigent Cancer Fund, a program that will provide funds for screening, diagnostic services and treatment for people who cannot afford these services due to lack of insurance or recent economic displacement during the recession.
• $20,000 for the Geriatric Assessment Program (GAP), a multi-disciplinary, outpatient assessment and treatment program designed to address the emotional, social and functional health of individuals ages 55 and older.
• $20,000 for a new fetal monitoring system at Baptist Hospital of Cocke County, which will supplement another grant to help provide this service for mothers-to-be in Cocke County.
• $3,000 in start-up funds for the Mercy Green Team’s recycling program.
Long encouraged women in the East Tennessee area to join Impact Mercy. Impact Mercy is an opportunity to let their opinion make an impact on health care in the region without joining committees, volunteering or attending lengthy meetings. It is for the busy woman who wants to be involved but has limited time to spare. They participate by making an annual donation to the Mercy Health Partners Foundation.
“As a member of Impact Mercy, donors make an annual contribution of $1,000, which allows the member to vote on future project funding, receive information on health care issues and receive updates on previous year’s projects,” Long said. “The women of Impact Mercy understand the needs of our community and will direct funds to the Mercy programs of their choice for the benefit of women and their families in East Tennessee,”
For more information on joining Impact Mercy, call the Foundation office at (865)632-5678.
Mercy Health Partners Foundation’s primary goal is to develop assets large enough to fund the purchase of needed equipment, provide health care education, medical programs and services, and offer community benefit and research studies for a healthier community. Some of the programs benefiting from the Foundation’s fundraising efforts include nursing scholarships, cancer research, Mercy Senior Care Vans, cardiovascular research, C.A.R.D.I.A.C. Kids and the community health outreach programs.
Sharing a common mission
The Foundation’s 30-member board, sub-committees and hundreds of volunteers share a common mission of caring for those who need help and of meeting the health care needs, through philanthropy, of the East Tennessee region Mercy Health Partners serves.
The Mercy Foundation is part of Mercy Health Partners. MHP was formed by the merger of St. Mary’s Health System and Baptist Health System of East Tennessee in 2008. The new health care system operates seven acute-care hospitals and 20 other health care facilities across East Tennessee. In 2008, the Mercy facilities in East Tennessee provided more than $46 million in charity care and community benefits including services for the poor, community health screenings and research.
