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Philanthropy plays a major role in helping Marin General Hospital enhance the quality of care we provide to our patients and the community.
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The Challenge Ahead
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Everyday the dedicated physicians and staff at Marin General Hospital strive to achieve the highest standards in all areas of patient care. Many programs and services offered by hospitals rely solely on philanthropy for their continued existence, while others count on gifts to sustain or expand their programs.
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Community Philanthropy
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 Community-based contributors and fundraising partners of the Foundation have made a difference, and continue to make a difference, in the abilities of Marin General Hospital to offer the highest possible quality medical care. Individuals have established funds to assist low-income patients in paying for medicines and devices associated with their treatment. Concerned individuals have hosted donor cultivation events in their homes, while others give of their time as volunteers in MGH. Local businesses have held fundraising events. One notable event was sponsored by Peggy O’Neill of Hearts and Flowers in Tiburon to raise funds for a digital-mammography machine for the Breast Diagnostic Center of Marin.
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We Need Your Support
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 Healthcare costs are increasing, yet government and insurance company reimbursements to hospitals and doctors continue to decline. We rely on the generosity of the communities we serve to help provide new services, purchase new technology, and introduce new programs. The end result: maintaining and improving the quality of care we provide to our patients and their families.
Here are some key facts about MGH:
- Marin General Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital. It serves everyone seeking emergency care, regardless of ability to pay.
- We have not received taxpayer support since 1976.
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Fundraising Priorities for 2008 (with amounts to be raised)
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EQUIPMENT AND FACILITY UPGRADING Breast Diagnostic Center of Marin-Digital-Mammography Machine
The Breast Diagnostic Center performs over 20,000 procedures annually, far exceeding its capacity. Currently, patients must endure long wait times due to a large appointment backlog. The purchase of a third digital-mammography unit will reduce the current backlog of a 3 - 4 weeks wait time. The Center will be able to serve more patients in less time and will improve the ability to detect breast cancer at an earlier stage.
Emergency Department
 As part of its ongoing modernization plan, the Emergency Department’s operational core was restructured and its communications system updated. Further modernization is in the planning stage. Current needs range from a new ultrasound machine that will more accurately reveal abdominal injuries and a new “slit lamp” for better exterior examination of patients’ eyes.
Pediatrics Department
The Pediatrics Department is readying itself for a complete remodeling and upgrading to provide an environment uniquely tailored to the health needs and rapid recovery rates of the children it serves.
Radiation Oncology Department—Linear Accelerator
Like the Breast Health Diagnostic Center of Marin, the Radiation  Oncology Department of the Marin Cancer Institute has seen an increase in patients needing treatment. To more effectively serve its patients, the Department needs a Varian linear accelerator (linac), the twin of one installed there in 2007. The linac delivers a uniform dose of high-energy x-ray to the patient’s tumor and can destroy cancer cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissue. The linac offers the latest advances in cancer treatment – more radiation beams, higher energies and more capabilities. The treatments are faster and more accurate.
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HOSPITAL PROGRAM FUNDSDiabetes Care Program: Keys to Control
 This is a new program intended to amplify the treatment of all in-hospital patients with diabetes and hyperglycemia (high blood sugars), secondary to acute illness. Growing medical evidence shows that optimal control of diabetes in high-risk patients leads to improved hospital outcomes, such as reduced surgical complications, rates of infection, renal failures, and shorter lengths of hospital stay.
Frances Zolfaghari Memorial Diabetes Fund
This fund is associated with the MGH Diabetes Care Program: Keys to Control. It honors Frances Zolfaghari, who helped develop the research department of Marin Endocrine Care and Research into a lead study site for diabetes clinical drug trials. Its goal is to improve the outcomes and hospital experience for patients who need hospitalization, either for treatment of diabetes-related disease states, or for other medical problems that also require state-of-the-art diabetes management.
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COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE FUNDSCancer Assistance Fund
This fund, established in 2005 with a gift from the late Benson I. Hattem of Belvedere, assists low-income male cancer patients in defraying the costs, up to $500 a person, of medications that alleviate the nausea and vomiting that can accompany cancer treatments. Participating patients are also eligible for CAF subsidies to help pay for nutritional supplements. Ongoing support is needed.
Linda Tavaszi Cancer Survivorship Fund
The Linda Tavaszi Cancer Survivorship Fund (abbreviated to the LT Fund for “Life after Treatment”) is named for a long-time senior management leader at MGH. The fund supports comprehensive programs for cancer patients after treatment ends, and includes scholarships to help people attend retreats and recovery programs. The fund is available to anyone, but is targeted to low-income men and women. Part of this new fund is MGH’s equine therapy program, Healing With Horses, which gives breast-cancer survivors the opportunity to participate in a six-week horsemanship workshop.
Marilyn’s Fund
Susan Weiss of Tiburon created this Fund in 1997 in memory of a longtime friend who died of breast cancer. It offers low-income women diagnosed with breast cancer financial assistance for the purchase of wigs, examinations, and acupuncture treatments. Ongoing support is needed.
Penny’s Promise
In 2000, after learning that some women in Marin County did not qualify for free mammograms,
Penny Gerbode of Kentfield pledged $100,000 over ten years as a base for a fund to provide low-income women with free mammograms. Ongoing support is needed.
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You Can Find Out More—
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—at Accomplishments and How You Can Make a Gift
—by calling the Marin General Hospital Foundation at (415) 492-4730
—by faxing your questions to (415) 492-4731.
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You Can Send a Gift Now To . . .
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Marin General Hospital Foundation
P.O. Box 8010
San Rafael, CA 94912-8010
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