Community Health Network Foundation

Twice a week, sisters Margie and Barbara exercise together. Like many patients living with chronic cardiac and pulmonary conditions, exercise has become an important part of their lives. For these women, it’s a routine that includes attending rehabilitation exercise classes, and giving generously to help other patients just like them.

During their weekly visits to exercise at the Cardio Pulmonary Rehab Center at Community Hospital East, Margie and Barbara have become friends with the physicians, nurses, therapists and other health care providers helping them breathe easier, live stronger and stay as well as possible. These friendships, like the one they share with Madonna Miles, RRT and coordinator of cardio pulmonary rehab, were the inspiration for these sisters to make multiple financial donations to Community Health Network Foundation’s Grateful Patient and Family Program.

“Madonna sure has taken good care of us,” Barbara says. “Community is a part of our family, and we give in honor of the wonderful care offered to us.”

Margie and Barbara’s generosity directly impacts the quality of care made available to other cardiac and pulmonary patients. Their donations have already funded the purchase of two treadmills for the clinic, and will also be used to support future equipment and programming needs.

With compassion and skill, Community’s care givers help Margie and Barbara navigate their health care journeys so they can celebrate life’s special moments. Like first-time trips to Walt Disney World. And Margie’s 89th birthday. These sisters don’t miss a beat.

Will you join Margie, Barbara and other patients whose gifts of gratitude allow us to save lives, fund medical innovation and transform health care? Please consider making a donation to our Grateful Patient and Family Program. Your entire gift will forever make an impact. Your generosity will forever be appreciated.

Many donors can make a 2011 charitable gift straight from an IRA

The IRA Charitable Rollover is great news for people age 70 ½ and over who want to make a gift to Community Health Network Foundation and satisfy required minimum distributions from their retirement plans.

Here are the nuts and bolts:

• A simple, one-step distribution that you authorize directs money from your IRA straight to Community Health Network Foundation

• The distribution counts toward fulfilling your required minimum distribution from your IRA.

• The distribution is excluded from your gross income for federal tax purposes—a real advantage at tax time!

• Most important of all, you make an immediate impact on our work to save lives, fund medical innovation, and transform health care.

There are certain conditions that apply. For example, the total rollover amount is limited to $100,000 per donor for the tax year. And, there is no eligible income tax deduction for the distribution to us because the gift comes from IRA funds that have never been taxed.

Let us know how we can help.

You may have some questions about the IRA Charitable Rollover.

• How do I choose a rollover amount?

• Can I choose the programs I would like to support?

• How can I put my IRA Charitable Rollover in motion?

We can help. Simply call us at 317-355-4661 or email us at give@eCommunity.com

 Be sure to always consult your tax and financial advisers when considering any planned gift.

Borrowed from an IRS newsletter we recieve, here are ten summertime tax tips from the IRS.

Did you make a donation to a charity this year? If so, you may be able to take a deduction for it on your 2010 tax return.

Here are the top 10 things the IRS wants every taxpayer to know before deducting charitable donations.

1. Charitable contributions must be made to qualified organizations to be deductible. You can ask any organization whether it is a qualified organization and most will be able to tell you. You can also check IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations, which lists most qualified organizations. IRS Publication 78 is available at IRS.gov.
2. Charitable contributions are deductible only if you itemize deductions using Form 1040, Schedule A.
3. You generally can deduct your cash contributions and the fair market value of most property you donate to a qualified organization. Special rules apply to several types of donated property, including clothing or household items, cars and boats.
4. If your contribution entitles you to receive merchandise, goods, or services in return – such as admission to a charity banquet or sporting event – you can deduct only the amount that exceeds the fair market value of the benefit received.
5. Be sure to keep good records of any contribution you make, regardless of the amount. For any contribution made in cash, you must maintain a record of the contribution such as a bank record – including a cancelled check or a bank or credit card statement – a written record from the charity containing the date and amount of the contribution and the name of the organization, or a payroll deduction record.
6. Only contributions actually made during the tax year are deductible. For example, if you pledged $500 in September but paid the charity only $200 by Dec. 31, your deduction would be $200.
7. Include credit card charges and payments by check in the year they are given to the charity, even though you may not pay the credit card bill or have your bank account debited until the next year.
8. For any contribution of $250 or more, you must have written acknowledgment from the organization to substantiate your donation. This written proof must include the amount of cash and a description and good faith estimate of value of any property you contributed, and whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the gift.
9. To deduct charitable contributions of items valued at $500 or more you must complete a Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions, and attached the form to your return.
10. An appraisal generally must be obtained if you claim a deduction for a contribution of noncash property worth more than $5,000. In that case, you must also fill out Section B of Form 8283 and attach the form to your return.

For more information see IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, and for information on determining value, refer to Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property. These publications are available at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676)

Denny Sponsel, President, RJE Business Interiors

Growing up on the eastside of Indianapolis, Denny Sponsel really got to know the inside of Community Hospital East—getting stitches and having broken bones patched up. As an adult, he became acquainted with the hospital’s maternity unit, where his kids were born.

Most important, he grew up as part of a tight-knit eastside community, a community that in the 1950s went door-to-door raising money to build a hospital closer to home. In this part of town, Sponsel says, “people are very passionate about their community, what the community means to them and their upbringing.” The hospital is part of that community, and is, as he notes, quite literally the eastside’s community hospital. “I could go on and on about Community East.”

Sponsel has since moved to the southside but says he still holds onto his eastside roots. That’s why he and his company, RJE Business Interiors, chose Community East as recipient of a $10,000 gift that will sponsor the hospital’s patient navigator program.

The navigator program is, in a way, symbolic of the close relationship between Community East and its neighbors. It’s about making more personal connections with those who seek care at the hospital. “The program helps people navigate some of the challenges of health care and the complexities and difficulties of illnesses,” Sponsel says. “It shows them how to find the best care, and understand and work through things that are difficult at a time when a person is ill.”

It’s a mission that really speaks to Sponsel. While he fully recognizes the importance of technology and well-equipped medical facilities, he feels especially pleased that his donation is funding the personal touch of the navigator program. “When you have a very ill sibling or child or parent, your head is in a different place. This is to help people in those situations and help them work through that time.”

Sponsel’s donation is a gift of gratitude to the community that offered him opportunity. He has owned and been president of RJE Business Interiors since 2000. The area’s second-largest dealer of office furniture, RJE has grown from an $8 million or $9 million business when Sponsel acquired it to a $30 million business now, with 55 employees.

“I have had success in my life, and this is about giving back, contributing and helping the community be stronger,” he says. That’s why he is so drawn to the mission of Community East and its solid connection to the neighborhoods surrounding it. “If I felt that Community East was just another hospital that did not care about its communities and their people’s needs and the health of the area, I would not feel as strongly. I was looking for something that would bring value to the hospital and benefit the eastside.”

With support from donors, Community Health Network is implementing an education and observation project to reduce medication errors and protect patients.

$19,000 allocated from Community Health Network Foundation’s Allen Hicks and Pharmacy Funds is helping to fund the AU MEDS observational method for the detection and documentation of medication process errors. Both funds invest in education, research and technology efforts that support Community’s mission to enhance health and well-being.

AU MEDS is a proven peer review technique that was invented by Dr. Ken Barker and Dr. Betsy Flynn at Auburn University.  AU MEDS utilizes the observation based method of medication error detection to help improve medication safety at the patient’s bedside.

Dr. Barker, recognized internationally as one of the foremost authorities on medication dispensing and administration accuracy and the Director of the Center for Pharmacy Operations and Designs at Auburn University, developed AU MEDS after more than 40 years of research.

Community is one of several United States hospitals and skilled-nursing centers utilizing AU MEDS.

How it works

Community caregivers were trained to use the observation method and supporting technology. Trained nurses observe other nurses administering medication during peak workload periods in selected patient areas.

These bedside observations are recorded and compared to the patients’ charts to identify any discrepancies between the observed administration and the physician’s orders. This review is then entered into the AU MEDS software and the nurse/observer meets with the observed nurse to validate any discrepancies as errors and to solicit assistance in seeking “clues to cause”.

The use of the observation method will allow Community to identify faulty processes, recommend systems changes and then evaluate the impact of the changes. The observation method also reveals opportunities for focused follow-up studies.