Fundraiser To Begin Hospital Campaign July 1

A fundraiser to support construction of a new county hospital in St. Ignace will be held at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island Sunday, July 1. Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center hopes to raise $3 million locally for the project, estimated to cost $27 million. The new facility, to be built near the Mackinac County Airport, is a joint program of Mackinac Straits Hospital and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. It is expected to be open in late 2009.

The hospital mailed more than 650 invitations to the fundraiser.

Donations to the project can be submitted at various levels of support:

Supporter, $1 to $249, will be recognized in the hospital's goft book.

Sustainer, $250 to $999, will receive the above, plus a tile in the lobby of the new facility.

Patron, $1,000 to $4,999, will receive the above, plus appear on a gift plaque.

Guardian, $5,000 to $9,999, will receive the above, plus a photographic portrait in a selected room in the facility.

Partner, $10,000 and more. Hospital employees can pledge a $500 payroll deduction over a three-year period.

Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A presentation about the construction project will take place at 6 p.m.

Grand Hotel's evening dress code applies.

Speakers will include former Senator Walt North and Mackinac Island Mayor Margaret Doud, cochairs of the Mackinac Straits Health Systems Foundation board, and Jim North of First National Bank and Dan Musser III of Grand Hotel, who are co-chairing the fundraising campaign.