The Herald Times: Support Foundation’s Decision (Letter to the Editor, 5.11.18)

To the editor:

Recently, Angela Parker submitted an Op-Ed, “Change Coming; Progress is an Imperative.” I am writing to support Angela and salute the leadership of the Bloomington Health Foundation (BHF) on their decision to remain locally managed.

I served on the board of BHF from 2008-2016, when Bloomington Hospital merged with Clarian, later becoming IU Health Bloomington. I witnessed and supported the care that was taken during that transaction to protect local control of BHF as it transitioned from supporting a locally managed hospital to one part of a larger system.

In 2017, BHF was presented the opportunity to merge with the new IU Health Foundation, which was organizing to support IU Health facilities statewide and as IU Health Bloomington was breaking ground on its new facility. The opportunity placed BHF at a crossroad of joining with the larger statewide IU Health Foundation or remaining autonomous and focused on local community health needs.

In the end, BHF made the difficult decision to remain autonomous. The result is the flexibility to focus both the new IU Health facility and the community health needs of Bloomington. Please join me in saluting BHF for this bold decision and the opportunities it provides to our community.

Alisa Hendrix

Bloomington