Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Edmundston Regional Hospital Foundation (HRE)

The Edmundston Regional Hospital Foundation (Fondation HRE) is a hospital foundation based in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Since 1994 it has supported the Edmundston Regional Hospital by collecting donations from individuals, businesses and community partners and reinvesting them directly into hospital projects. The foundation reports that together with its donors it has completed 355 projects totaling more than $5.1 million for the benefit of the local population.

The foundation’s financial support focuses on improving the quality and accessibility of care: purchasing cutting‑edge medical equipment, upgrading clinical spaces and common areas, and supporting comfort and quality‑of‑life initiatives for patients. Recent examples highlighted in its journal L’Envol include funding for a psychiatry kitchen, intensive care beds, pediatric equipment such as a Giraffe table and GlydeScope devices, palliative and rehabilitation improvements, oncology comfort kits, toys for pediatrics and day surgery, and Wi‑Fi access for patients.

Funding from Fondation HRE benefits a wide range of hospital users and services: psychiatry, intensive care, pediatrics, oncology, palliative care, rehabilitation, women’s health, cardiology and more. Support may cover both medical technology and non‑clinical amenities that make the hospital environment safer, more humane and more comfortable for patients, families and staff. The foundation also helps modernize public areas such as the cafeteria and rest spaces, and may contribute to specific infrastructure such as solarium upgrades or bariatry rooms.

Decisions on how to invest collected funds are overseen by a board of directors and campaign cabinet, who ensure that the money raised is invested for the well‑being of the community. Each year, the foundation summarizes the financed projects, the amounts committed and the results of its benefit activities in its journal and financial statements, reinforcing transparency toward donors.

To sustain its grantmaking capacity, the foundation runs a variety of annual benefit activities: a golf tournament, a Déjeuner‑bénéfice breakfast, the Étoile du Nord holiday campaign, travel lotteries and other community events. It also encourages third‑party or “parrainé” activities led by citizens, employees, volunteers or businesses, such as painting workshops, car washes, sports tournaments and reading programs, whose proceeds are directed to hospital projects.

Individuals can support the foundation through one‑time gifts, in memoriam donations, monthly giving and several planned giving instruments. Planned giving options include bequests, life insurance policies, gifts of publicly traded securities, registered retirement plans (RRSP/RRIF) and endowed funds that can bear the donor’s or an honouree’s name. The foundation highlights the associated tax credits and the long‑term impact of such gifts on the sustainability of local health services.

Fondation HRE is managed by a small professional team and a volunteer board of directors drawn from the local business, municipal and health‑care communities. A campaign cabinet helps lead the annual fundraising drive and target the projects to be financed each year. The foundation publishes financial statements and impact reports and operates a donor recognition program, including a recognition wall at the hospital with contribution tiers from “Bâtisseurs” to “Fondateurs” for major cumulative gifts, as well as special recognition for endowed funds and in memoriam gifts.

Through these mechanisms, the foundation acts as a dedicated financial partner for the Edmundston Regional Hospital, channeling community generosity into concrete investments that enhance health services close to home.