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Statement Identifying New Hope Regional Foundation As Hospital Made In Error
by Misty DeLashmutt
Although the New Hope Regional Foundation has aspirations of building a new state of the art medical facility on land leased south of Burwell, the New Hope Regional Foundation is not a hospital.
An October 30, 2007 news release from Senator Ben Nelson's office stated "New Hope Regional Foundation is a new hospital and this is the first federal grant it has received".
According to Julie Edwards, staff member at Senator Ben Nelson's office, the statement identifying the New Hope Regional Foundation as a new hospital in the press release was made in error.
"The information about the awarding of the grant was given to our constituent service representative and came from the New Hope Regional Foundation," stated Julie Edwards by telephone late Tuesday. "We used the word 'hospital' , it was our error. This was a grant that was competitively awarded by the Department of Justice for the purpose of setting up shelters for the victims of domestic violence in the ten county area."
Joanne Erickson, Department of Health and Human Services, Administrator with the Licensure Unit, Division of Public Health, confirmed the New Hope Regional Foundation and/or Medical Center Complex is not currently licensed as a hospital in Nebraska and there is nothing pending in the division's licensing files.
The New Hope Regional Foundation was awarded a $255,000 federal grant by the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, under the Transitional Housing Grant Program to establish two safe shelters and requisite services for women who have been the victims of domestic violence.
According to the news release, the grant project will help fill a major gap in the availability of safe shelters and human services for women victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and/or stalking who reside in ten counties in north central Nebraska.
How and where the services will be provided could prove to be problematic for the foundation.
The New Hope Regional Foundation was granted a conditional use permit by the Garfield County Commissioners at a hearing held Wednesday, September 28, 2006.
The permit was granted to the foundation to locate a temporary building on the site south of Burwell as an office to be used for foundation activities to promote rural community development.
Whether or not safe shelters and requisite services for victims of domestic violence falls into activities to promote rural community development is a question that may need to be addressed in the future, said a source on the Garfield County Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 5 to 4 vote following public hearing September 27, 2006 for the conditional use application.
The approval by the Planning Commission was granted for a temporary 28' x 60' structure with a domestic well and septic system to be placed on land leased to the New Hope Foundation by Everett Lech and Bryan Peterson for the purposes of promoting rural community development.
The nonprofit New Hope Regional Foundation, according to the foundation web site, serves as the fund raising and economic development arm for the Regional Medical Center Complex. The foundation plans to raise funds for construction capital through national grants and other funding avenues.
The New Hope Foundation goals are: 1) To build and equip a regional medical center of the highest quality. Provide compassionate medical care to area citizens without regard to their ability to pay. 3) Make the medical center the cornerstone of a region-wide rebirth. 4) Create jobs and opportunities for young people so that they remain in the region, rather than more elsewhere.