CENTRE WELLINGTON – Even after the Ministry of Health agreed to fund a new Groves hospital, the community had to come up with 10 per cent of the cost of the building and all of the cost of equipping the hospital. How that happened is a tale unto itself.
The story begins some 20 years ago, when the community was originally asking the province to redevelop the existing Groves Memorial Community Hospital.
“The government said they’d do it if the community could raise half of the money,” said Bob Cameron, one of the founding members of the Groves Hospital Foundation, which formed in 2002. “So we formed the foundation and set a goal to raise $15 million.”
By the time that money was raised, the government had changed, the Ministry of Health was open to building a new hospital instead of redeveloping the old one, but it needed the community to raise 10% of the building cost and all of the cost to equip the hospital.
The foundation set a new target of $20 million and started to re-mobilize.
“That turned out to be a turning point,” Cameron said. “A brand new hospital was more than anyone expected. And I don’t believe the government would have approved it if we didn’t already have so much money in the bank.”
“Seven million dollars had been raised from the redevelopment campaign,” agreed Lori Arsenault, who became executive director of the foundation in 2015. “And that was really important. Without it, we were not certain at all that we’d get approval from the ministry for a new hospital. But the community had demonstrated the commitment and the ministry OK’d the new hospital.”
John Wheatley was part of the early drive to raise $1 million for the original Redevelopment Campaign.
After some door-knocking, where residents might give one-time donations, he devised a plan to ask individuals to contribute $5 a month for three years through a regular credit card payment.
“The board was resistant to that idea at first,” he recalled. “But eventually they came around and allowed it. And it was very successful, the credit card approach. I think 80 to 90% kept their three-year promise.”
Wheatley said the Chamber of Commerce was instrumental in driving interest and donations from small businesses in the community.
“It was just everybody working together to reach this goal. Everybody felt it was worthwhile,” he said.
“I always say the reason why the word ‘community’ is in the hospital’s name is because it truly is a community hospital and it took a community effort to have it built.”
– Cindy Lindsay, Chair of the Groves Hospital Foundation
The first big ask brought the foundation to nearly half of its goal.
In 2014, Wellington County agreed to contribute a total of $10 million to the project – $5 million in in-kind donations, including the land, roads and preliminary surveys, and $5 million in cash. Along with that commitment was another $5 million for upgrades to Palmerston and Mount Forest hospitals.
Minto mayor George Bridge, who was county warden at the time, said it was a “no brainer.”
“I’m heavy into economic development and you can’t have economic growth without hospitals and schools and arenas and parks,” he said. “The hospitals are in the north part of the county, so we had to bring the (municipalities in) the south on board. But I really credit the council of the day who saw the big picture.”
Bridge said the county took out debentures to pay the hospital foundation and the payments were spread over time, “so it didn’t hit any one year.
“And when you look at the growth that has happened since then, how the tax base has grown and spread out, it’s an investment that has come back ten-fold.”
So, the foundation was off to a good start. But $10 million is still daunting.
Cameron said the original board members would approach businesses or people they knew who might be in a position to give a sizable donation. They also made pitches to service clubs and other organizations.
“We called it the Road Show. We talked to people to get them to buy into the vision. And they did,” Cameron said.
“We always knew we’d get there,” Arsenault said. “As people saw shovels in the ground, the campaign gained momentum. It was incredible.”
From large events to small, from corporate donations to in memoriams and estate donations, the foundation nudged its way toward the finish line.
“ … Raising the funds, opening the hospital – these are momentous occasions and it took the entire community to make it happen.
– Lori Arsenault, executive director, Groves Hospital Foundation
It seemed everyone wanted to raise money for the hospital.
And several annual events sprang from that desire, including the Mardi Bra Bro Show, the Arthur Legion’s weekly barbecues, the Pike Derby, and the Centre Wellington Rotary Club’s Grand Taste.
There were also many one-off events, such as the Gala for Groves hosted by the Elora Mill.
The Pine Meadows group raised $500,000, the hospital’s volunteer association raised $1 million, the nine Lions’ clubs in the region raised $250,000 through numerous events over the years and the Fergus Elora Rotary Club held a number of fundraisers, including its Catch the Ace event. The club donated a total of $500,000 for the new hospital over the years.
“Three years ago the school boards got together and held fundraising activities for us,” Arsenault said. “Every gift, large or small, made a difference.”
Cindy Lindsay, chair of the foundation, said when she became chair in 2017 there was still $8 or $9 million to raise.
“That’s huge for a small community,” she said. “But people gave birthday money, there were lemonade stands, and the gala at the Elora Mill. People were very passionate about our hospital.
“I always say the reason why the word ‘community’ is in the hospital’s name is because it truly is a community hospital and it took a community effort to have it built.”
The final push for the final $2 million started last fall with the 151 campaign.
“This was an initiative of the foundation board to reach out to the community in support of reaching our goal. The concept was if every household contributed $151, we would reach our goal.
“For the price of a coffee a week you could contribute $151 and it made it easy for community members to participate,” Lindsay said.
Now that the hospital is open, the pressure to raise funds has lifted for a while. But the need never goes away, and the Groves Hospital Foundation is here to stay.
“We will always have an ongoing need for equipment, so we still hope for continued support,” Arsenault said. “What could be reused or repurposed (from the old hospital to the new) was.”
She said COVID-19 delayed the opening of the new hospital by a few months but didn’t really get in the way of the fundraising, which had pretty much wrapped up when the pandemic hit in March.
“It has hindered our celebration though,” she added. “Maybe a year from now we can celebrate with the community. Raising the funds, opening the hospital – these are momentous occasions and it took the entire community to make it happen.”
“The pandemic has shone a light on what health care workers do,” agreed Lindsay. “Now more than ever, people realize how lucky we are to have this new hospital that will serve our community for decades.
“I’m proud and I’m grateful to everyone who helped make this happen.”
In total, the foundation raised $27 million; $7 million was raised to renovate the old hospital and was transferred to the new campaign when the province approved a new hospital; and another $20 million on top of that.
