The Enumclaw Regional Healthcare Foundation, formerly the Enumclaw Hospital Foundation, has moved its offices from the hospital to 1174 Myrtle Ave. in downtown Enumclaw. The Foundation’s move emphasizes it’s expanded mission to help local organizations provide for all types of healthcare needs in Enumclaw and the surrounding communities. This office location outside the walls of the hospital shows the Foundation’s desire to break away from the perception that it solely helps the hospital and not other healthcare needs in the community.

The nonprofit foundation has had an office inside the Enumclaw hospital since its inception in 1982. Then it was simply known as the Enumclaw Hospital Foundation. In 2006, what was formerly known as the Enumclaw Hospital Foundation, saw its role expanding to include different kinds of healthcare needs. The Foundation Board of Directors realized there were more healthcare problems that needed to be addressed outside of solely supporting the community hospital. The name was changed to the Enumclaw Regional Healthcare Foundation (ERHF) to reflect a new vision and direction. This vision became prophetic as the hospital was later sold to the Franciscan Healthcare System. The two events have allowed the Foundation to branch out in helping other local healthcare initiatives. The hospital under new ownership had the capabilities to build a beautiful, state of the art new hospital which is nearly finished.

Even with the expanded mission of the Healthcare Foundation, ERHF’s continued support of the hospital is evident with the recent donation of $496,000 toward a digital mammography machine to increase the early detection of breast cancer and a $600,000 donation toward the hospital building fund to aid construction. Supporters of the hospital can still utilize the ERHF to make tax deductible donations toward construction, equipment and programs in person, by phone at 360-802-3206 or on line at www.enumclawrhf.org