Last week, some of Australia’s leading health foundations came together on the Sunshine Coast for the National Hospital Foundations CEO Forum.
This was a powerful two days of connection, collaboration and learning.
Chaired by Wishlist CEO, Brendan Hogan, the forum was held on August 14–15 at the Wishlist Centre, Birtinya, and provided an opportunity for health foundation leaders from across the country to share ideas and strengthen partnerships.
“Foundations across Australia each do important work supporting better care and health outcomes for patients of their respective health services,” Brendan said.
“And whilst each may have a different focus or range of activities, there are equally many similarities to their work.
“Across the two days of the forum, participants discussed ways they may be able to connect more regularly with each other to share information, better promote the impact of their work and tell the bigger story of the role foundations play collectively in the broader hospital and health industry.”
A wonderful acknowledgement of country and welcome to attendees was delivered by the inimitable Cr Tim Burns.
With the health precinct in his Divisional, Tim spoke with insight and passion about the importance of community, business and all levels of government working together to achieve excellent health and wellbeing outcomes.
The first session was presented by Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation CEO Gina Hogan, who shared the strategy behind their most successful fundraising event, including the use of curated invitations to create an exclusive atmosphere, focusing on high-value pledges, building donor relationships and delivering a premium guest experience.
Wishlist’s Funding and Programs Manager, Kath Thompson, then spoke about the Wishlist Therapy Dog Program – its development, recruitment challenges and valued partnerships.
Kath noted as the service is becoming more sought after across our multiple hospital locations, they are needing to recruit more therapy dog teams.
“The dog handlers need and deserve as much care and attention as the dogs do because they are a critical part of the success of the team,” she said.
“When you see a good dog team, you’ll know that the dog is very patient and tolerant and has a wonderful temperament and can withstand quite a bit of patting.
“But it’s the way that the handler engages with the patient and the staff that actually makes that work and the two have to go together.”
Attendees also had the joy of meeting handler Bob and therapy dog Abby, who together demonstrated the program’s impact on health services.
The Hospital Research Foundation Group CEO, Paul Flynn, highlighted the importance of aligning with government priorities to secure funding, while Gold Coast Hospital Foundation CEO, Russell Ousley, presented on the Queensland Kids Alliance and how collaboration can deliver better outcomes for children.
Day two featured Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Foundation CEO, Simone Garske and Steph Miller, who spoke on developing impact frameworks and theory of change models to strengthen reporting.
“Our organisation made a very specific change of not just being a fundraising organisation but very explicitly becoming both a fundraising and a grant making organisation, and this made us think about how we know if we are truly making a difference or not,” Simone said.
“Through stakeholder interviews, the learnings from the process helped us inform our new strategy, our approach to budgeting, our priorities , and where resources should be deployed.
“We’ve actually got a very clear road map now, isn’t just a collection of fundraising campaigns and grants. It really anchors and directs all of the work we’re doing as a foundation.”
For the final forum session, Brisbane Children’s Hospital Foundation CEO Lyndsey Rice shared her organisation’s seven-point financial sustainability plan and their renewed focus on igniting generosity, to drive inspiration and impact.
The Forum close reiterated a shared belief that together, we are building stronger, more resilient health foundations that deliver better outcomes for our communities.
This event was made possible with the support of Charidy, the Sunshine Coast Council and Our Shout PR.
