In 2018, the Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Foundation founded the Hoelle Tompkins Sisterhood Society, a women's annual giving club. The society meets several times during the year and hears presentations from doctors and hospital representatives about hospital programs in need of funding. At the end of the year, members come together at an annual celebration to vote for their favorite project. The project with the most votes receives all funds raised by the group.
Since it's inception in 2018, the Sisterhood has donated over $322,000 to important programs and services at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital.
And the winner is . . .
In fiscal year 2024, the Hoelle Tompkins Sisterhood Society members voted to use their contributions towards a Portable Digital X-Ray. This machine allows for high quality imaging from the comfort of the patient's room. The new machine is quieter, provides higher quality images and lowers the radiation dose to the patient. This Portable X-Ray machine will increase patient comfort as well as allow staff to increase their efficiency in patient care.
In fiscal year 2023, the Society's contributions of $48,000 went towards 3D Mammography & Biopsy technology. With this new technology, compression time will be reduced to 5-10 seconds from the typical 30-40 seconds, and the high definition system generates four times the amount of data than CDIC’s current 3D mammography machine. Greater breast tissue definition allows for earlier and more accurate detection of abnormalities, which will increase survival rates for women in our community.
The 2021 Hoelle Tompkins Sisterhood Society voted for their membership gifts totaling $55,000 to support the on-site Mental Health Evaluation Team (MHET) worker in the Emergency Department. Resources for those suffering behavioral health conditions are insufficient on both a national and local level. This forces many behavioral health patients in crisis to seek care in the Emergency Department, where they must be evaluated by a Mental Health Evaluation Team (MHET) worker before being released or transferred to an appropriate facility. Having an on-site MHET worker is incredibly beneficial in providing immediate mental health evaluations, enabling behavioral health patients to receive the most appropriate care in an efficient manner and facilitating the rapid transfer of patients to the appropriate care setting.
The 2020 Sisterhood voted for their membership gifts totaling $56,000 to to towards the Emergency Support Fund. Arroyo Grande Community Hospital created the Emergency Support Fund to help the hospital's efforts to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Support from the Sisterhood will impact patients and caregivers during COVID-19 or other emergencies.
In 2019, the Sisterhood voted for their membership gifts totaling $71,000 to fund ultrasound technology for our Emergecy Department. Ultrasound technology is a rapidly expanding technology in terms of its application in the emergency department and rapid patient diagnosis. In order to more fully implement ultrasound in the Emergency Department, the proposal was to purchase new ultrasound machines, each with specific capabilities and application, to help provide a safer, more efficient experience to all patients when they need it most.
In 2018, the winning project was Emergency Department Specialty Rooms. The Sisterhood Society voted to support Emergency Department enhancements with their 2018 membership gifts totaling $80,000. This includes motorized stretchers, ceiling-mounted lifts, and several computerized IV pumps, all of which will provide added safety and efficiency for care at our Emergency Department.
The Sisterhood is currently accepting members for 2022-2023. Please click here to join or contact us with questions.
Membership commitment:
Members will make a $1,000 gift each year & attend social meetings quarterly. Payments can be spread over the course of the year.
Members will learn about programs, services, and funding needs of the hospital in a social setting. Members will vote to select a hospital project they would like their donations to fund, and 100% of donations will support the winning project.
Main events:
- Social mixers
- Presentations from doctors and hospital representatives advocating their programs
- Annual celebration and vote on hospital projects
Benefits of membership:
- Members will have a voice in making our hospital a stronger facility
- Meetings will help forge a meaningful connection between physicians, administrators, and members
- Members will be part of an enjoyable and important social club that supports a good cause.
For more information about the Hoelle Tompkins Sisterhood Society or to join, please contact us.