Governmental officials, members of the Chamber, board members of the Community Hospital Foundation, and other community members network at the Thursday event By. TSEHAI ALFRED, V.I. CONSORTIUM
The Juan F. Louis Hospital and Medical Center and the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce hosted a “Business After Hours” event on Thursday, which provided community members with a networking opportunity and the Community Hospital Foundation with an opportunity to fundraise and spotlight their services and mission.
The event, held at the hospital’s Cardiac Center, brought together governmental officials, members of the Chamber, board members of the Community Hospital Foundation, and other community members. All attendees were invited to participate in the event’s silent auction fundraiser for the St. Croix Community Hospital Foundation and to make personal donations if they so wished.
“There’s so much need within our community and so much need within the hospital. Unfortunately, we don’t have the revenue or the resources to fund everything so we really look to the Foundation to help support those key initiatives,” said Douglas Koch, the departing JFL chief executive officer who recently announced his resignation.
According to Mr. Koch, the event was an opportunity for the hospital to share its “revamped foundation” with the community, which included the unveiling of a new foundation logo and name. As the foundation was established in 2021, Koch also described the event as a way for the Community Hospital Foundation to “refresh” the community on the role of the foundation.
“This is an opportunity to give back, not just for equipment but for education through staff, for new programs to be developed,” said Barbara Biehner, the foundation’s vice chair. According to the foundation’s mission statement, the St. Croix Community Hospital Foundation “will increase community awareness, raise funds for programs and services, and provide stewardship of the funds, to advance local healthcare and improve quality patient care for the residents of our community.” During the event, hospital officials also highlighted the many open positions at JFL, which included roles such as nurses and hospital police.
Although Mr. Koch’s departure is now imminent, he said he hopes the hospital community will continue hosting similar events. “Being able to do events like this for the first time is really showing the transition of JFL moving forward in the community,” Mr. Koch stated.
