Smarter giving seeds endowment that will grow, gift indefinitely

MEC commits $50k by 2031 to create endowment for charity care at Good Samaritan

‍Gifting is good. Really good. But sometimes, there’s a smarter way.

Each year, Good Samaritan’s Medical Executive Committee gives $10,000 to the hospital’s foundation. The support is deeply appreciated and much needed to help fuel the foundation’s wide range of initiatives that address patient needs, staff education, community wellness and more.

‍But every year, it’s one and done: gift given, money spent.

Starting this year and in a commitment that will last five years, the MEC will give $10,000 to the newly created Intermountain Health Good Samaritan Hospital Patient Assistance and Charity Care Fund. It will help patients pay for housing, food, transportation, medications and other needs they might struggle to cover because of their unexpected hospitalization and prolonged recovery.

‍(How is that different? Let’s put a pin in that for now. Keep reading.)

‍“Our physicians excel at addressing our patients’ medical needs,” said Ed Pyun Jr., MD, chief of staff, “but we can’t help but notice sometimes their needs extend beyond these walls, needs that affect their recovery at home and their families’ stability.”

Hospitalizations can upend and, possibly, forever redefine a family’s idea of ‘normal.’ If the patient is also the family’s primary breadwinner, that shift is painfully magnified.

The hospital already offers charity care funds that address this issue and support the needs the MEC wants to target. Patients can and do tap into them today. But none of these separate funds is an endowment.

‍(Remove the pin.)

‍The MEC’s decision to supply $50k in seed money converts these funds into an endowment and super-charges their effect. They’re now grouped together, and the principal the MEC gives during the next five years will never be touched; it will just spin off 3 to 5 percent in growth to spend every year.

‍This endowment means today’s physicians will help patients in crisis long after they reach retirement, as smaller pools of money become one larger eternal spring.

‍“An endowment gives stability and longevity to the organization, with predictable income as it ensures the mission can continue for generations,” said Ron Adelson, Good Samaritan philanthropy officer.

‍“As physicians, we are all blessed with gifts, but they extend beyond the care we render,” Pyun said. “We are more than our work, and it’s our privilege to address not just the medical need, but the human need.”

‍Physicians who would like to contribute to the endowment and accelerate its timeline to become fully funded can click here, select Donate Today and include the name of the fund in the comments section.

‍In addition to Pyun, we thank all voting members of the MEC who made this decision to support patients and families for years to come: Richard Bigler, DO, Adam Bulter, MD, Brittany Butler, MD, Rick Carlson, DO, Jonathan Holstad, MD, Chloe Ingoldby, MD, David Jackson, MD, Veronica Meierbachtol, DO, Thomas Neuhauser, MD, and Brian Nordstrom Lane, MD.