Hospital Raises 109 million

WYOMING — With four months to go until the doors are thrown open on MetroHealthHospital‘s new facility in Wyoming, the hospital today is celebrating a capital campaign that raised nearly $11 million over two years.

“It was obviously a pleasant surprise,” Metro Health President Mike Faas said. “We had never run a capital campaign before. When you have no history, you don’t know exactly what your target ought to be. And we didn’t do this in the best of economic times.”

While Faas said the hospital’s foundation relied on more than 3,000 donations from across the community, the Care Differently campaign was buoyed by a $1.2 million gift from an anonymous donor. The original goal was $7.5 million. The 208-bed, $150 million hospital is the centerpiece of MetroHealthVillage, a mixed-use development at

and M-6, spearheaded by The Granger Group and Metro Health that is expected to hit $1 billion in investment.

The hospital is hosting a celebration today at the new location for the volunteers who worked on the capital campaign, including co-chairs Dan Pfieffer, owner and president of Pfeiffer Automotive Group, and Steve Van Andel, chairman of Alticor and vice-chairman of the MetroHealthHospital board.

Pfeiffer said he originally balked when he was approached to lead the campaign, even though he grew up on a farm four miles due west of the new hospital site, saying he was too busy.

“Finally I said, ‘Some day I’m going to die being too busy to do things I should have done,'” he said. “I believe in it so strongly. Why do all the hospitals want to be in the same area? They’re practically walking distance from one other. What a great opportunity  to be out where we are. We’re right on the crossroads. You can get there from all over West Michigan.”

Contributions from physicians totaled $1.3 million and that proved to be a key point in soliciting the campaign’s major donations, Pfeiffer said. Forty-five percent of Metro Health’s approximately 2,000 employees gave donations.

Faas said the campaign also provided a chance to tell Metro Health’s story to a wide swath of the community. “It was a wonderful opportunity for us to get out and tell lots of people about MetroHealthHospital and MetroHealthVillage, whether they gave us a dollar or nothing,” Faas said.

The campaign received a $350,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation. By donating a minimum of $100,000, 17 people and organizations will have sections of the hospital named after them:

       Steelcase Workstage Lobby

       Dan and EunicePfeifferSurgeryCenter

       Chris and JoanPanapoulosImagingCenter

       Bill and Bea Idema Healing Garden

       LaSalle Bank Founders Courtyard

       SpartanStoresFamilyChildbirthCenter

       Steve and Cindy Van Andel Center for Restorative Care

       Skytron Health Library

       Alticor Pediatric Unit

       Peter C. and Pat Cook Chapel

       David M. and Nancy Ondersma Therapy Facility

       West Michigan Heart P.C. Tower A Elevators

       Metropolitan Hospitalists PLC, various spaces

       Turner Christman Foyer

       Metropolitan Anesthesia Associates PC Guest Lounge

       The GrangerVillage Green

       Irving H. Walters DO Memorial Garden