The McPherson Healthcare Foundation, Inc., was formed and chartered in October of 1986 "to secure and expand financial aid for the operations, maintenance and expansion of the health care facilities and services associated with Memorial Hospital, and to otherwise contribute to the development of comprehensive health care in McPherson County and the surrounding region."

Memorial Hospital, a 70-bed acute care facility built in 1972, is located in McPherson, Kansas. The city has a population of approximately 14,000 and is the county seat of McPherson County. In addition to its agricultural base, the central Kansas community has a variety of industrial firms, two four-year private colleges, and a progressive retirement community.

The Foundation organized and sponsored a successful $3 million capital improvement campaign that was completed in 1990. Funds from this collaborative effort contributed to the purchase of new equipment, the renovation of several departments within the hospital, and the establishment of an endowment.

Quality health care services are essential to any community. Because of this, the Foundation has been acutely aware of the critical need for physicians in maintaining these services. Beginning in 1990, an effort to recruit and retain physicians has been funded by this organization and has resulted in the retainment of eight new Family Practice Physicians, two General Surgeons and an ENT.

As an extension of these efforts to retain quality physicians, the Foundation entered into a cooperative agreement with the University of Kansas School of Medicine to organize a Regional Medical Education site on the campus of Memorial Hospital. Third and fourth-year students are now afforded the opportunity to experience an educational rotation in a rural hospital. The facility opened in the fall of 1999 and has hosted over 20 students in its brief history.

The Healthcare Foundation has also initiated an annual "Autumn Auction" as a benefit for the hospital. This special event celebrated 10 years in 2001 and has generated over $300,000 for a variety of projects throughout the hospital. Two other special events, also coordinated by the Foundation, have since been added to calendar. The "Memorial Hospital Charity Invitational Golf Classic" began in 1998, and the "Wines of the World Dinner Auction" in 2002.

Most recently, the Healthcare Foundation has focused on the Emergency Care 2000 Campaign, a $2.5 million renovation project for the hospital's Emergency Department. The project includes a 2500 sq. ft. expansion to the existing ER, a new EMS garage, the installation of a canopy for the hospital's main public entrance, and the replacement of the west parking lot.