An anonymous donor is challenging the community to match a $1 million donation to the Kalispell Regional Healthcare Foundation for upgrades to the emergency services department.
Tagen Vine, president of the foundation, said the donor wants to pay tribute to the late Dr. Van Kirke Nelson, a longtime physician in Kalispell who laid the foundation for Northwest Montana’s modern health care services, and his wife, Helen. Van Kirke Nelson passed in April.
The donation would establish a space in the new ER named after the Nelsons, Vine said.
The foundation launched a campaign last summer to raise $14 million for an expansion and upgrade of the ER at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. So far, roughly $10.4 million has been raised, Vine said.
“We hope to secure pledges by the end of the summer,” Vine said. “We feel confident that we can get there and that the community jumps onboard and helps us do this right. We’re hopeful that the community sees the need.”
According to KRMC administrators, the hospital served 22,618 patients in 2012 through its emergency department and trauma center.
The 8,179-square-foot ER remains largely in the same footprint as when it was first developed in 1976, and improvements that were made in the last remodel in 1991 have already become outdated and deficient, according to KRMC.
Foundation board members, volunteers and KRMC staff and administrators have pledged $5.4 million as of last summer, according to the hospital. The remaining funds are being rallied in the community through private donors. Pledges can be paid out over a five-year span. Naming opportunities are still available for significant donations, Vine said.
The expansion and upgrades would increase the ER space from 8,179 square-feet to 37,516 square-feet. The number of patient rooms would jump from 13 to 30, with new specialized treatment rooms for trauma patients, sexual assault victims and psychiatric and detox incidents. There would also be three nursing stations, instead of only one, and a large private family waiting area.