“At its recent quarterly meeting, the Whidbey Island Hospital Foundation approved support grants to local health related causes, elected a new president, and marked the retirement of a longtime foundation board member.The foundation granted the Island County Health Department $5,000 to help fund their Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, which measures health behaviors and factors affecting health in Island County. The results of the survey are used by health and human service agencies to plan programs, write grant proposals and evaluate service intervention.The foundation also granted $19,980 to purchase a Motorized Mammography Viewer for Whidbey General Hospital. This state of the art piece of equipment meets recommended mammography viewing standards and will significantly increase radiologist productivity.Another approved grant request was for $627 to the Whidbey Island Dental Health Coalition, to purchase magnets that outline what to do during dental emergencies. These magnets will be distributed at events such as health fairs to educate the Whidbey Island community. During the meeting, board president Robert Wolfe of Oak Harbor made a presentation to retiring member Clarence Ellison of Coupeville, honoring him for his 11 years of service as a board member, including eight years as board treasurer. Wolfe then passed the gavel to incoming president Harland Kinzley of Langley.The hospital foundation serves as a depository for charitable gifts. For more information about the Whidbey Island Hospital Foundation, contact Trish Rose, WGH Community Relations, PO Box 400, Coupeville WA 98239-0400; 321-7656 ext. 3350.”