Provident Health Foundation Namesake
Naming a New Foundation
During the ownership change discussions in 2019 , as well as in all the agreements and paperwork submitted to the IRS, the new Foundation was referenced as the M&M Foundation. Everyone knew that was not ideal – it would be very easy to confuse it with the M&M Community Foundation and gave no clue as to what the mission of the new foundation was.
Many foundations that are started in this fashion carry the legacy organization name to recognize and remember the origin of the original endowment, but adding another Bay Area to the mix was probably also going to be confusing.
So in looking further back to other ‘legacy’ hospitals we found that in the early 1890s a group of Menominee citizens, in an effort to establish a new hospital in Menominee formed the Bay Shore Provident Health Company. The Company raised money and convinced the Third Order of St Francis, to come to Menominee from Escanaba and Operate the Providence Hospital.
In addition, the definition of Provident is ‘preparing for the future.’ and doing so with prudent use of resources.
The name also references Marinette and Menominee Counties which is the population the foundation will be serving.
And so Provident Health Foundation of Marinette and Menominee Counties was founded. We have a winner!
The legal name at inception on April 1, 2019 was M&M Foundation. It was changed to Provident Health Foundation of Marinette/Menominee in August 2019.
It is a 501c3 not for profit Foundation and will be considered a ‘private foundation’; required to distribute a percentage of income for each tax year or be taxed and meet other IRS requirements in operations and reporting.
Provident Health Foundation Namesake
Many Foundations that are started as a result of a community hospital being sold or changing hands are named with a reference to that ‘legacy’ hospital. The name Provident comes from a community group that, in the late 1890’s, sought to establish a hospital in Menominee to better serve the local lumberjacks.
The full story, from the Sisters of The Third Order of St. Francis History of the Menominee hospital, describes that effort.
EXCERPT FROM: OSF Sister of St Francis History
JOSEPH-LLOYD HOSPITAL
MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN
Menominee Michigan, was one of the leading lumber centers of the country in I889. Mills lined the banks of the Menominee River and logging camps were scattered around the surrounding countryside. It was to be expected that there were
frequent accidents in the lumber camps, but there was no hospital near to offer help and care. Perturbed by this lack of medical care, some of the town’s people came together to plan what could be done to relieve the situation. They determined to provide Menominee with a good hospital.
The people in Menominee had heard about the Franciscan nursing Sisters at the Delta County Hospital in Escanaba they decided to visit them and present their plans to them. The Sisters accepted the idea favorably, telling the delegation from Menominee that they felt Mother Thecla, the Mother General of the Order, would assist them in their endeavors to establish this institution.
To make the venture a success, the group of citizens who intended to carry out the hospital plan formed the Bay Shore Provident Hospital Association. They bought a two-story hotel of nine rooms, the Montreal House, which they remodeled into a
hospital, naming it Providence Hospital, To raise funds they sold tickets to the lumber men for nine dollars each, which entitled the bearer to one admission to the hospital when sick or injured. No limit was set for the duration of the patient’s stay and no extra charges were made for medicines or other special treatment during the patient’s illness.
When the hospital was ready for occupancy the Bay Shore Association asked the Sisters in Escanaba to take over the care of the patients. The Sisters referred the request to Mother Thecla and her council who promptly approved the appeal. On June 10, 1889, four Sisters with Sister Barbara, as their superior, arrived in Menominee to take over the nursing duties. They also accepted the already functioning “Hospitalization Plan.”
The following article from a local newspaper tells about the hospital:
The old Montreal House, which later became the Providence Hospital and the first hospital in Menominee in which Sisters of St Francis served, was operated by Firmin Montpas, father of Jean Montpas, a Menominee barber, who recalls that his parents moved out of the building about three years before it became a hospital. ‘Providence Hospital’ is the only institution of its kind on the river where Sisters are in charge and its medical attendance is not surpassed by any other hospital in the North-west. Mr. G. P. Ludwig, an experienced hospital man is manager. Dr. E. T. Phillips of this city is president, Dr. S. P. Jones is vice-president. They have unquestionable reputations and the hospital is excellently managed. The hospital building is located on the corner of Bellevue and Dunlap avenues and for years was known as the Montreal House.
The premises have been especially fitted up for hospital purposes and contain all the modern improvements, with baths, either shower, electricity or vapor. The rooms are excellently appointed for the convenience and comfort of the sick.
The Sisters are very kind and painstaking in their efforts to the suffering of the sick and injured patients. The firm who owns the hospital is known as the Bay Shore Provident Company.
Menominee Herald Oct 24, 1889