Donations about $59,800 for Friends of Healthcare campaign
The campaign supporting the bond to help pay some of the costs of a new Samaritan Hospital has raised about $59,800 in donations and spent about $43,700, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. The existing Samaritan Hospital is pictured.
File photo
MOSES LAKE — As of Friday, the Friends of Healthcare committee had spent about $43,700, over half in in-kind contributions, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. The committee was formed in support of the construction bond request submitted to voters by Samaritan Healthcare.
The committee’s biggest expenses were a $27,387 donation in kind from the Moses Lake-Othello Association of Realtors. The association paid for three direct mailers to voters, messages urging a yes vote via text and digital advertising.
“There’s a cost to them for doing it,” said P.J. De Benedetti, Friends of Healthcare committee member. “So what they are donating to us is the service. They pay the vendor themselves.”
Voters will decide the fate of the construction bond request Tuesday. Hospital district officials are asking for a construction bond authorization of $130 million. If approved, the money would go toward the construction of a new Samaritan Hospital.
If the bond is approved, property owners will pay an estimated $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value. A landowner with property assessed for $250,000 would pay an additional $275 per year, and a landowner with property assessed at $300,000 would pay an additional $330 per year.
Total donations to the campaign are $59,873. The largest contribution to the committee came from the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation, which donated $29,398.
“The foundation’s sole purpose is to raise money in support of programs and services for the hospital district,” said Gretchen Youngren, the foundation’s executive director. Youngren is also chief development and communications officer for Samaritan.
Samaritan commissioners and administrators contacted the foundation and said the hospital commission was considering offering a construction bond.
“The Foundation Board essentially said, ‘How can we help?’ So a team banded together,” Youngren said.
De Benedetti also serves on the foundation board, and Allison Russell, a foundation member, is president of Friends of Healthcare.
“So the foundation said, ‘We’ll give you seed money.’ So that money was distributed by the foundation to the Friends of Healthcare,” Youngren said.
The foundation has been raising money for the hospital project since 2020, she said, and has raised about $4 million in that time.
The campaign received a $1,000 donation from McGraw, LLC of Moses Lake and $500 donations from Dale Paris, a hospital commissioner, $500 from his wife Patti, $500 from
Samaritan Chief Executive Officer Theresa Sullivan and $500 from her husband Steve. De Benedetti donated $88 in in-kind services.
As of Friday the campaign had paid all its bills and had no loans.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.