Katherine Thornton has dedicated much of her career to supporting the needs of one of our community’s greatest resources: the Reading Hospital, part of Tower Health. As President of the Reading Hospital Foundation, she is not only giving back to the Berks community, but is also helping others to do the same.
Q: Can you tell me a little bit about the Reading Hospital Foundation? Five years ago, the hospital board determined that there was a need for additional funding for equipment, programs and building projects, so they decided to create the foundation. Our mission is to raise funds to support the hospital through innovation, education and research.
Q: Where do the funds come from? The funds for our grant program come from an endowment funded through people giving money to the hospital over the years. But the main source of our funding is really through working with individuals one-on-one. It’s largely grateful patients who support a lot of the foundation’s initiatives. Berks County is incredibly generous. There are a lot of ways to give – whether it’s your time, talent or treasure – and it’s really rewarding to see how supportive the community is. When there’s a need, people step up and fill it.
Q: What are some of the programs you offer? We have a great internal grant program; we encourage our staff – and it can be anybody in the hospital – to apply for a grant that will directly impact patient care. Over the last four years we’ve given 52 grants totaling $1.8 million, and some of the concepts have been very interesting. Last year, we also raised money to build the new Pediatric Emergency Department, which was dedicated in February, and just finished a therapeutic healing garden at our rehabilitation hospital.
Q: Do you have any other projects in the works? Yes! We’ve just finished training our staff on a new exoskeleton for the rehab hospital; it’s one of those bionic body suits for patients who are paralyzed. We’re really excited; they’ve wanted one for years and through several generous donations, we were able to buy it. With that program finished, we’ll move right on to the next one.
Q: How did you get involved with the foundation? When we moved here in 1992 from Wilkes Barre, my first job was here at the hospital as the Director of Volunteer Services. I left to start my own fundraising and public relations business, but I came back when this job became available just after the foundation was formed. I specifically came back because I love working for the hospital and the passionate people who work here.
Q: You’ve made a career of volunteerism and fundraising; do you do any work in the community outside of with the hospital? What I love to do is mentor other professionals. I love to give my time one-on-one, where I can really help someone reach their career goals. I usually have three or four young professionals that I’m working with at a time, so that’s how I like to share my talents with the community.
Taking it to the Streets.
The foundation also supports a Street Medicine Program that sends physicians into the city to provide care for the homeless, both on the streets and in shelters.
Get Involved.
Want to help support the foundation’s next project? Learn more or make a donation at reading.towerhealth.org/foundation.
