The newly-formed Cochrane and Area Health Foundation (CAHF) is practically a reality, as the founders have announced the name of the organization, the vision and mission statements, their values, and perhaps most importantly, how community members can get involved.
CAHF Chair Brian Winter said the new foundation has secured the support and participation of Alberta Health Services (AHS), to whom he and his colleagues submitted their bylaws for approval last week.
Once AHS green-lights the new foundation, the next and final step is for Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping to approve the bylaws establishing the CAHF, so they can then be granted charitable status by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Until that paperwork is done, the CAHF will not be able to write tax receipts for individuals, but that doesn’t stop businesses from opening their wallets for the cause.
According to their Mission Statement, that cause is: “To improve the quality, provision, and access to health care for the people of Cochrane and the surrounding area.”
The second part reads that CAHF “is committed to work with the public, AHS, and community partners to promote, evaluate, fundraise, educate and advocate for the improvement of health care and urgent care services.”
A more specific and immediate goal will be to advocate for the Cochrane Urgent Care Centre to be opened 24/7. The centre is currently open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“That’s our ultimate goal, and the only way we can see to do that is through the foundation,” Winter said.
Before the paperwork is complete, the foundation is looking for community support by circulating flyers to businesses around town.
They’re looking for corporate financial support to enable them to set up a booth at the upcoming trade show at the SLS Centre on May 6 and 7.
Another important step will be for the foundation to gather community feedback on the state of the local health care system and areas of potential improvement. The website is designed and ready to launch as soon as Alberta’s health minister signs the papers.
The foundation has longer-term goals that go beyond the first priority of extended hours for the urgent care centre. Winter said the CAHF could be involved in any and all aspects of health care as they grow and become established.
He provided a hypothetical example.
“We’re going to have a representative from AHS on the board, and that individual might tell us the urgent care centre needs a piece of equipment they cannot get in their budget, that might be $10,000 – we could go out and fundraise that,” he said.
“Basically, the sky’s the limit to what our foundation can do, but we have to work within AHS boundaries,”
Another example of where the CAHF might get involved is when organizations are looking for help in training employees in certifiable things like CPR.
Winter said the new foundation hopes to get all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted before the writ is dropped for the May 29 provincial election. If that doesn’t happen, Winter said the foundation will just have to work with whichever party wins.
