HCMH Foundation-Supported Projects

Through the generous donations of many hospital supporters, the foundation has been able to fund key projects that have advanced the hospital's capacity and capabilities to serve patients.

2012: Single-Patient Rooms
One of the newest endeavor at Hill Country memorial is moving the hospital from a semi-private facility to one with all single-patient rooms. Evidence indicates that single-patient rooms afford a greater measure of privacy, facilitate better communication between the patient and the health care professionals providing care, offer space and an atmosphere better suited for family members to participate in the healing process, and reduce the risk of cross infection. The rooms and bathrooms will have a fresh design, with new paint, lighting, furnishings and equipment.

Generous donor and Gala XIV participants, including individuals, foundations and corporations, have provided gifts of $1.2m toward this project. This community’s industriousness, dependability and willingness to sacrifice to attain a goal has made HCM the beacon of remarkable heath care that it is today.

2012: Rehab Center
Since its inception in 1991, the generous support of the community has enabled the Hill Country Memorial Hospital Rehab Center to assist patients on the road to recovery. In 2012, donors added to this legacy as contributions were made towards this $171,000 project. These funds enabled the Rehab Center to remodel and update its equipment to serve patients more effectively than ever before.

Thanks to the renovations and upgraded equipment, the Rehab Center’s experienced staff can enhance the level of care for patients who visit from the surrounding region.


2009: Angiography and Catheterization 
Faced with an increased demand for catheterization services, Hill Country Memorial determined that it was time to both upgrade the current catheterization lab that had been in service for 10 years and build a new catheterization lab. Total cost for the project was slated at $3.3 million to build and equip. The foundation was asked to raise $1.8 million for acquisition of new state-of-the-art angiography equipment for both cath labs. Initial seed money for the project came from Gala XIII, which provided $414,000, a new fund-raising record. An additional $880,000 was granted by private foundations, both locally and regionally.

The remaining funds were donated by many generous contributors that included individuals and corporations. These cath labs will help the hospital meet increasing demand to treat patients with cardiac complications, vascular disease and digestive disorders in a less-invasive manner.

High-quality health care has always been an expectation for the citizens of the community. This was as true in 1971 as it is today. And the legacy of the original visionaries continues today as like-minded citizens join together to support the Hill Country’s hospital.

“We want to be a beacon of hope, a hospital that cares about the motional, spiritual and physical well-being of its patients.” – José A. Lopez, MD, FACP

2009: Schwindt Endowment Fund
“The HCMH Foundation’s endowment fund is a wonderful opportunity for us to ensure that our legacy of giving is remembered by our children and grandchildren."
—Forest J. Rees, Jr.

Hannelore and Walter Schwindt traveled the world together. Both avid readers, they were students of different world cultures, economic theories, financial and social trends, politics, personal growth and much more. Despite their international travels and the cosmopolitan environment in which they thrived, they led a simple, thoughtful lifestyle.

They spent their summers in Maine and their winters in Texas. Methodically and together, they planned how their personal financial assets were to be used upon their demise. It was important to them to take care of their friends and neighbors in the Gillespie County region. To do this, they set up a permanent fund to help support high quality health care in the form of an endowment fund.

Walter died in 2002. Upon Hannelore’s death in 2009, the Schwindt Endowment Fund was created from the charitable portion of their estate. This gift is particularly notable for several reasons:  first, it is by far the largest endowment gift that the HCMH Foundation has received to date; and second, the fund is restricted and cannot be used for hospital operational expenses. Instead, the interest earnings are dedicated solely to be used for capital, equipment or technology expansion or advancement. The Schwindts were true visionaries of their time. Their gift will generate interest income for Hill Country Memorial year after year, but the principal will remain intact. Their gift will support high quality health care for their friends and neighbors for multiple generations to come. A gift shared, appreciated by many, forever. That is quite a vision, indeed.

2008-20011: HCM Cancer Resource Center and HCM Breast Center
"Today, cancer doesn’t define my life. It has refined me to make me a better person. My dream is that early detection and prevention will allow for my daughters and other young women not to have to travel down this path.”
—Donna McMahon

The 2007 Friends of the Hospital Gala XII provided funds for a digital mammography unit for the HCM Breast Center and seed money for the build-out of the Cancer Resource Center (CRC), with each opening in 2008. In addition, the community provided more than $50,000 from the HCMH Foundation’s year-end appeal to supply equipment and materials for the CRC. The HCM Breast Center received additional funding from two year-end appeals and a transformational gift that made the purchase of a second digital mammography unit possible.

HCM Cancer Resource Center: Opening in April 2008, the Health, Hope & Healing Cancer Resource Center is not about medicine. It's about supplying patients, family members and community members with the information and power they need to make informed choices. The CRC utilizes volunteers to help visitors take full advantage of the center’s wide array of resource materials including education about the disease, support and various tools for coping with cancer.

HCM Breast Center:  Opening in August 2008, the 1,810 square-foot center performs about 5,000 mammograms in a year. HCM reports about 50 new cases of breast cancer a year from our area, which makes it critical to stay on the leading edge of technology to provide the community with the very best. The Breast Center is the newest part of a larger, comprehensive and multidisciplinary breast-health program, a coordinated approach to detection and management of women’s health issues.

An additional generous gift from the Brunes, presented at the grand opening of the Brune Professional Building, made possible the purchase of new state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment.

Then in 2011, gifts from Harlan and Dian Stai and the Perry and Ruby Stevens Charitable Foundation enabled HCM to purchase new stereotactic breast equipment.

2007: Brune Professional Building
“A gift means more than words when given with a thankful heart.”
-Leo C. Tynan, MD, and Forest J. Rees, Jr.

One of the foundation’s most inspiring projects was the 13,000-square-foot Brune Professional Building that houses HCM Hospice and HCM Home Health Care, HCM Breast Center, HCM Cancer Resource Center,  as well as designated support services including the HCMH Foundation office. Thanks to the financial commitment and ongoing support of Ed and Trudy Brune, this building project, located north of the main hospital campus, came to fruition in 2007.

HCM Home Health Care: Skilled professionals provide quality health care services where the patients are most comfortable—in the healing environment of their own homes. Available assistance may include skilled nursing, home health aides, various types of therapy and an array of social services.

HCM Hospice: Special end-of-life care is given to hospice patients and families in the comfort of familiar surroundings at home or in a long-term care facility, an assisted living community or a hospital setting. Through a patient-centered interdisciplinary team, hospice serves each patient’s medical, emotional and spiritual needs.

Well known for their generosity, the Brunes recognized the need for quality hospice and home health care services in Fredericksburg and the surrounding community. So they made it possible for these needed services to have a home close to the main hospital campus—those services that support the continuum of life for their community.

2003-2006: Intensive Care Unit—A Gift for the Community
“Hill Country Memorial quickly became our second family…Truly, one of the greatest joys of living in Fredericksburg is the peace of mind gained by knowing that Hill Country Memorial’s compassionate staff is there to help if we need them.”
—Vincent R. DiNino, Ph.D.

The benefit project for Galas X and XI was a new and expanded intensive care unit for Hill Country Memorial. An astonishing $182,000 was presented to the hospital for ICU seed money from Gala X. Gala XI raised a record $316,000 to help furnish and equip the new area. The $4.56 million project got an additional boost when the foundation presented the hospital with $1.5 million in community contributions.

The ICU was originally designed to have eight large rooms with windows, leaving two more rooms to be shelled in for future expansion. However, because of the generous financial support of our community, it was possible to finish out all 10 rooms.

The Don and Julie Holden ICU honors the couple who supported the hospital since the original 1966 fund drive. The sentiment that the hospital is “…one of the best gifts this community ever gave to itself” rings true year after year after year with the continued outpouring of support provided by the community. Thank you.

2001-2003: Women’s Pavilion: Delivering for the Community
“Because of the generosity of this community and of the surrounding communities, this state-of-the-art birthing facility is becoming a reality. All contributions, great and small, were critical to the campaign’s success.”
—Mike Tomforde

Hill Country Memorial was making plans in 2001 to build a Women’s Pavilion to accommodate the growing demands for obstetrical procedures in its service area. The foundation was asked to fund the project with an expected construction and equipment cost of $3.5 million. Proceeds from Gala IX, amounting to $73,000, served as seed money for the project.

The Women’s Pavilion Campaign is noteworthy. First, it was the largest fund-raising effort in the hospital’s history. Second, the Mabee Foundation awarded a $500,000 challenge grant to the foundation. Third, the Women’s Pavilion was entirely donor-funded and built completely debt-free.

Again, the robust and visionary support of the community made it possible for all of the above milestones to have been achieved. The modern 14,300-square-foot facility offers obstetrical services supported by caring doctors and staff, as well as state-of-the-art equipment to assure the health and welfare of mothers and the more than 600 babies born each year.

1995-1997: Fitness and Therapy Pools
“…the great thing about giving to our hospital is that, when you make a gift, you’re giving to everybody. This is a group that cares deeply about our community’s health care."
—Ronald L. Woellhof 

Jump-started by the overwhelming success of the 1995 Gala VI, net proceeds of $66,000 were contributed toward construction of the new indoor fitness and therapy pools. The addition of the 10,000-square-foot pool facility allowed the Wellness Center to expand its services to meet the growing health care demands in the community.
 
Focusing on the therapeutic environment that water provides, individuals recovering from injuries or major orthopedic surgery can benefit from rehabilitation in a non-weight-bearing environment. Opened in 1997, the indoor facility was designed to include a 25-meter lap pool and a heated therapeutic pool, both suited for group or individual exercise programs.
  
The HCMH Foundation inaugurated its first-ever capital campaign, coupled with the first major employee campaign, successfully raising $713,578 by selling pool memberships and garnering individual and foundation gifts. It was boosted by a $50,000 challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation, Inc., of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first of three to be awarded to the HCMH Foundation to date.



1990: Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Friends of the Hospital Gala III provided $35,000 to help establish a Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Hill Country Memorial. Today, the Cardiac Rehabilitation program is helping people with coronary disease who have had heart injury from a heart attack or who are recovering from cardiac procedures such as bypass, stenting or valve replacement. Cardiac rehabilitation plays an important role in offering a safe and effective personalized recovery program which increases fitness and reduces the risk of new events.

In 2012, thanks to the generosity of this community, the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program now boasts new fitness and telemetry equipment designed specifically for cardiac patients. Grants from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, Moody Foundation, James N. McCoy Foundation, and gifts from Bill and Cheri Rothermel, Bob and Cynthia Chapman, Joe and Dorothy Marr, and the Walter and Hannelore Schwindt Estate and many other generous donors made this new equipment a reality.

“Our hospital is the ulitmate part of assuring continued quality of life.” – Sharon Joseph