How Your Gift Helps

Gifts to the WellSpan York Health Foundation help local patients and families who are courageously battling chronic illnesses and unexpected, life-altering medical conditions. Here are a few ways that donations to the WellSpan York Health Foundation has helped:

York Couple makes bequest in honor of parents.

“Love of family is at the heart of why we donate to WellSpan Health.” Rick and Sue are York natives and have been very focused on their family. Originally they started donating to WellSpan Health with a donation to the Cancer Patient Help Fund in memory of Rick’s mother. Over the years they have contributed annually to various departments and programs including VNA Home Care in memory of Sue’s mother. They eventually decided to make a planned gift by including the Cancer Patient Help Fund and VNA Home Health in their wills. “We decided a bequest would be a meaningful tribute to our parents and also be a great way to pay it forward”.

To learn more about how to make a planned or legacy gift to the WellSpan York Health Foundation/WellSpan Health, visit our legacy and planned giving site or contact Bob Bentley at rbentley@wellspan.org or (717) 851-2200.

Endowment helps resource WellSpan York Hospital Medical Simulation Center.

Dr. David Eitel was a long-time emergency medicine physician at WellSpan York Hospital who passed away in 2012 at the age of 63. To honor Dr. Eitel’s memory, his wife and three children created the David R. Eitel, MD, MBA, Celebration of Education Endowment to support the purchase of new equipment for the WellSpan York Hospital Medical Simulation Center. The Center, which opened in 2008, allows doctors, residents, nurses, and other staff members to practice their skills in a controlled setting on a variety of state-of-the-art medical simulators.

“David was always interested in learning new things,” says his wife Lynne who describes her husband of 38 years as “a gadget lover, obsessive index card carrier and passionate educator. He loved the Simulation Center and recognized the great value it had as a teaching tool.”

To learn more about supporting the Simulation Center or to create an endowment, please contact WellSpan York Health Foundation at (717) 851-3595 or philanthropy@wellspan.org. 

Employee Giving Campaign funds provide diagnostic equipment to OB/GYN office.

Dr. Reddy who oversees the WellSpan York Hospital OB/GYN office, says many patients are low-income, single women who are at high-risk for developing certain cancers or a high-risk pregnancy. The office needed new equipment to better detect infection and disease to allow them to receive treatment in a familiar setting without having to be referred elsewhere. Through the generosity of WellSpan Health employees and the Employee Giving Campaign, Dr. Reddy and her team received new diagnostic equipment to support the WellSpan York Hospital OB/GYN office and provide more effective care to underserved women in the community. “Sometimes we would lose women once we referred them for additional testing. There might have been transportation or language barriers or they felt scared about going somewhere that wasn’t familiar. Now we can offer comprehensive services in-house from providers and nursing staff they are already comfortable with,” says Dr. Reddy.

To learn more about supporting community health initiatives and programs such as the WellSpan York Hospital OB/GYN office, please contact WellSpan York Health Foundation at (717) 851-3595 or philanthropy@wellspan.org.