Dear Editor:

Tom and Laura Perkins asked me an excellent question the other day about the status of the restricted and unrestricted money (our “endowment”) donated to St. Andrews over the years. I thought many people in our community might be interested in the answer.

On January 1, 2007, when St. Andrews Hospital and Miles Memorial Hospital created Lincoln County Healthcare, the balance of the St. Andrews Endowment was $5,542,469. On September 30 of this year, the balance was $6,277,934.

No funds have been withdrawn from the endowment during this period. The endowment did serve as collateral for the financing of our shared medical record initiative during this period, but that loan has been paid off.

The last time money was withdrawn from the St. Andrews Endowment was in 2005-2006 for the construction of the state-of-the-art Family Care Center on the St. Andrews Campus.

At our August meeting this year, the St. Andrews Board of Trustees voted to designate the St. Andrews endowment to be used for healthcare services in the geographic area historically served by St. Andrews. We also voted to designate similar geographical restrictions on the Miles endowment, which St. Andrews acquired on October 1.

The St. Andrews and Miles endowments have not been comingled. They are each entrusted to different investment advisors, and are kept in distinct investment accounts.

In other words, we have embraced the concept that “local money stays local.” This applies not only to the money generously donated to St. Andrews in the past, but also to gifts which we may receive in the future.

The St. Andrews Hospital Corporation has changed its name to LincolnHealth, but it has not changed its policies with respect to the St. Andrews endowment or the Miles endowment: Local money stays local.

Jeff Curtis

Chairman

LincolnHealth Board of Trustees