St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation remains in familiar hands as Erin Gienow assumes the role of Executive Director following the recent retirement of Toni Lavigne-Conway. Gienow (pictured above) is no stranger to the Valley having grown up and attended school here before heading south to train as a pharmacy technician, work and acquire a Bachelor of Liberal Science. She and husband Chris always knew they wanted to move back to raise their family. She said, “Living in the city is a great experience. We learned a lot, but our hearts were really here in the Valley.”
And Gienow is no stranger to healthcare, either. Hers has been a familiar face around our hospital and doctors’ offices since the 2000s. The Joint Municipal Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee hired her as the Valley’s first Physician Recruiter. “The position didn’t exist before I came aboard so I was responsible for the overall creation and implementation of the recruitment program. Through that position I learnt a lot about our healthcare system and about our local community. I met a lot of people … [from] all the local municipalities, hospital administration, physicians, and the community at large. It was a really great experience. That was a part-time position and when my daughter started grade one I had a little bit more time.”
So Gienow started volunteering for the foundation to learn more about it. It was August, but by October Lavigne-Conway had hired her as a part-time fundraising assistant. During the past eight years, Gienow moved from a front-line administration role to full-time Donor Relations Coordinator. She is now SFVH Foundation’s Executive Director, with the responsibility for carrying out its strategic plan while promoting its mission, vision and values.
She admits she never envisioned herself in this role but says, “I’m so happy I am involved in it because I always wanted to help in some way. Because I’m not a direct care provider, not a nurse, this is my way of giving back and making a difference in our community. And I do think it’s important. A lot of people don’t understand that equipment is not funded by the government – I didn’t know that when I started volunteering here.”
The challenges of healthcare fundraising in our region are many. Gienow explains, “We need the same equipment that an organization has in the city, but they have a bigger population base than we do. So we do have to get really creative around here and think outside the box – but that’s part of the fun too.” Her acknowledgement of the problem is tempered with optimism. She says, “And we have such a great community — extremely generous, kind. Our community never ceases to amaze me really.”
Gienow’s first step is to recruit a Donor Relations Coordinator. She says this will take a little bit of time and says, “But we have such a great team here at the Foundation. We’re supported by an amazing team of volunteers. Our Board [members] are volunteers. We also probably have close to 70 other volunteers.” She agrees that many of them volunteer for a lot of different organizations but says she is always looking for new volunteers. Many people start at The Bean Coffee Shop but all kinds of skills are needed.
Foundation Board Chair Karen Tierney says, “Our Board is delighted to welcome Erin in her new role as our Executive Director. We are confident that with the knowledge and expertise she has developed over the past eight years at the Foundation, and her commitment and understanding of local healthcare and our donors, she will provide great leadership for us into the future.”