In 1937, Rice Memorial Hospital was established because of the generosity of the Rice family. Colonel Cushman Rice carried out the wishes of his parents to leave their legacy to the city of Willmar to establish a hospital. Rice Memorial Hospital has continued to change over the years to deliver the best possible health care services to the people of west central Minnesota.

You deserve to have the most technologically advanced health care available — close to home. It is the mission of Rice Memorial Hospital to deliver a broad range of services for you. Rice Health Foundation was created as a charitable non-profit, to assist Rice Memorial Hospital in the development of new services, as well as to continually improve current services. Through the generosity of people like you, the Foundation makes it possible for Rice Memorial Hospital to address community health needs and enhance patient care and health education.

As a result of gifts and bequests to the Foundation, we are able to award grants to valuable and needed programs and services of Rice Hospital. We also partner with other non-profit organizations by awarding grants to advance their work in addressing unmet health care needs throughout the community.

Charitable support will provide the margin of excellence in healthcare that area residents have come to expect from Rice Memorial Hospital. As we face the financial challenges of the future, your generosity will make a difference in the delivery of health care services and the overall health of our community.

You deserve the best that health care has to offer, and this includes an environment conducive to healing. We take pride in the hospital’s professional and expert staff and physician groups that provide this quality healing environment. We are dedicated to providing excellent care, not just for the patient but to the whole family, and we want you to feel the Rice difference from the moment you step in the door. Rice Health Foundation is able to provide for the programs and services that make your health care as comfortable as it can be. Your gifts are an investment in health care and make all things possible.

With your help, we can fund the development of new and innovative services that enhance quality of life. Programs like the Heart Failure Clinic, Multiple Sclerosis Assessment Clinic, and the Parkinson’s Assessment Clinic have benefitted from start-up funding from the Foundation to create solutions to people’s chronic illnesses.

Health education plays an important role in the management of chronic illnesses, like diabetes, heart disease, and Parkinson’s. However, health education is oftentimes not covered by insurance or Medicare. Some programs that were previously funded by state or federal government have fallen victims to budget cuts. With the help of charitable gifts, these services continue to be provided to everyone, no matter their ability to pay the out-of-pocket expense.

Rice Health Foundation forms partnerships with other non-profits with similar goals for eliminating disparities in health care. For several years, the Foundation has worked with Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare to provide local access to care for children and adults with physical disabilities. Because of local funding, Gillette is able to bring their Mobile Outreach Program to Willmar so members of the community can eliminate some of the exhaustive and costly trips to the Twin Cities, and receive specialized care close to home.

We have been privileged to work with the United Way of Kandiyohi County and Affiliated Community Healthcare Foundation to provide funding for Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) teams and other smoking cessation programs. When we all work together, we can do so much more than any one organization can achieve on its own.

Advancements in healthcare are changing so rapidly that it is a major challenge to keep up with providing state-of-the-art technology. Rice Memorial Hospital and Rice Health Foundation are committed to bringing you and your family the most technologically advanced health care available. Rice Health Foundation has provided funding to update technology so that we may offer more procedures and tests for you – closer to home. Travel to another facility is more expensive, more time consuming, and separates you from your support system of family and friends.

Each year, more than 3,000 of our friends and neighbors share the gift of good health by making contributions to Rice Hospital. Some choose to support an existing program already established, while other donors recognize and provide
funding for a need that is not being met. Some donors choose to make unrestricted gifts that can be used for the most urgently needed equipment, programs and services.

Philanthropy is playing a critical role in the advancement of healthcare in our community. The demand for dollars continues to grow each year as hospital programs and community non-profits strive to keep pace with changing healthcare
needs. Gifts to Rice Hospital have a direct impact on the communities we serve, improving the health and well-being of the thousands of patients and families we touch each year.

We view your support as a generous display of trust and confidence. We pledge to honor your trust by ensuring that all contributions are used to their maximum potential. As a donor to Rice Health Foundation, you have the knowledge that your gift is making a difference.

Direct Gifts:

• Cash
• Stocks
• Real Estate
• Personal Property
• Matching Gifts from Employers

  These gifts provide immediate funding for programs of the Foundation.

  
  Planned Gifts:

• Bequests in Your Will
• Gifts of Life Insurance
• Charitable Gift Annuities
• Life Estate Agreements

  A planned gift can be an important part of your estate planning, benefitting your family and Rice as well, while providing significant tax savings. Your financial advisor can help determine which is right for you.

 

Contact:
Jean Raatz, Foundation Coordinator
jraa@rice.willmar.mn.us
320.231.4141