Inside one upstairs office in downtown Ganges, a fresh coat of paint has dried, a handful of indoor plants have found their footing and Eric A.F. Jacobsen — the new executive director for the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation — is as hopeful for what’s ahead as the day is sunny.
Not quite two months into the new job, Jacobsen’s excited about helping shape the future of the 32-year-old island charity — and the critical healthcare resource it supports. He and his family have been on Salt Spring Island for six years now, he said, since the birth of their first child — having lived the previous five years on Galiano Island. Long before the hustle-bustle of McPhillips Avenue, he worked with the Galiano Island Conservancy as an education coordinator.
“That was an amazing group of people, who did some really cool things there,” said Jacobsen. “We built a community food forest! We worked with the Penelakut First Nation, I couldn’t say enough about what a wonderful job that was.”
His energy when speaking about projects is captivating, but still comes across fully grounded; Jacobsen dreams big, but practical. With a resume that includes work with several nonprofits — and co-founding a healthcare tech company — Jacobsen admitted he can’t help but see things through a “feasibility lens,” knowing what to do with what you’ve got.
“So it’s about doing great big things,” said Jacobsen, “but doing the groundwork to make sure that they are successful great big things.”
The foundation’s core mandate, according to Jacobsen, is raising money — to support healthcare on Salt Spring in general, and at the Lady Minto Hospital specifically. It’s work that’s all about nurturing partnerships, he added — understanding the needs of the community, the ability of governments to assist, and somehow aligning all the stakeholders and their priorities and figuring out how to make the biggest impact with every donated dollar.
Jacobsen said he’s found one of the best ways to engage with people is through stories — and there are some big ones to tell on Salt Spring.
“I love the community here, I love raising my children here,” said Jacobsen. “I feel like it’s one of the kindest communities I’ve ever experienced.”
Nowhere is this clearer than in the story of Lady Minto’s new emergency department, he pointed out — a $12.8 million project, opening this spring, built with $8 million raised and contributed by the LMHF.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Jacobsen. “It’s a state-of-the-art facility. And we funded the lion’s share of that through the generosity of the community. That’s incredible.”
Jacobsen and the LMHF board are working through a big strategic planning process at the moment, he said, to map out the future and find new opportunities to engage the community — and, of course, the donors. Perennial successes like the annual golf tournament will continue, as will the successful year-end donation drive (visit ladymintofoundation.com).
But Jacobsen — with the help of a soon-to-be-hired communications admin — wants contributing islanders old and new to hear more about where their donations wind up — and how they affect everyone who makes their home here.
“Increasing the storytelling around that, making more opportunities to learn about the impact we’re having,” said Jacobsen, “and finding more opportunities for the community to tell their stories, tell us about their experiences with the hospital and the help they received.”
Indeed, like many on Salt Spring, Jacobsen’s not just a supporter of the hospital, he’s also been a customer. He found himself at Lady Minto just a few months back with his two-year-old daughter, who had hit her head after a bad fall. He called it an especially scary time, particularly as a relatively new parent — you move as fast as you can, he said, and there’s always some confusion as to what you should do first.
“I felt so grateful that the answer was so obvious,” he said. “We showed up [at Lady Minto] and received just unbelievable fantastic, quality care.”
Salt Spring is proud of its healthcare providers, Jacobsen said; community support for the people who work at Lady Minto is near-universal. The new emergency department is something to be proud of, and the foundation will celebrate with everyone else when it opens. But there’s plenty of work ahead.
“There’s still a lot of need on the island,” said Jacobsen. “The hospital is an aging facility; it’s going to need a lot of upgrades over the next 10 to 20 years. And we still have critical staffing problems.”
Jacobsen smiled. “There’s plenty to do,” he said. “I think we can go a lot further together.”