About The Foundation

The Knapp Medical Center Foundation was formed in 1981 as a not-for-profit corporation benefiting Knapp Medical Center and the thousands of children and adults served each year by the Weslaco hospital.

Change in knowledge and technology continue to shape the way health care is offered. The Foundation builds an endowment to help provide healthcare equipment at Knapp Medical Center. Earnings from the endowment have allowed the Foundation to grant over $6 million during the past 30 years.

In 2011, the Knapp Medical Center Foundation Board granted $721,848 to Knapp Medical Center. The majority of the grant went to the following items:

  • New monitoring equipment in the Intensive Care Unit for each of the 16 individual patient rooms and a central station at a cost of $400,000
  • Six vital signs monitors for the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (Recovery Room) at a cost of $127,583
  • Biphasic defibrillators for ICU, Labor & Delivery, E.R., Surgical Unit, GI Lab, Imaging Services and the Medical Unit at a cost of $70,000
  • Syringe pumps, to provide minute amounts of medication or food, were purchased at a cost of $22,000 for the Nursery and Pediatrics. Also purchased for the Nursery were a SIPAP for newborns in respiratory distress, phototherapy lights and a newborn isolette for pre-term babies too small for an open crib. All this was made possible through a gift to the Knapp Medical Center Foundation by the Madison Foundation.

Other Knapp Medical Center Foundation grant money purchased:

  • Centrifuge for Lab
  • Rapid Response curriculum and accessories for Sim Man Training Mannikin
  • 2 patient procedure chairs for Wound Care
  • Food steamer and charbroiler for Nutrition Services
  • 2 large wheelchairs for Postpartum
  • Floor cleaning equipment for Environmental Services

The Foundation raises money through tax deductible donations, memorials, gifts, honorariums, bequests, Memory Garden opportunities and revenue from the annual gala auction, Harvest Night.

Foundation Board of Directors

  • Ryan Vaughan, President
  • Ramon Montalvo III, Vice President
  • Spencer Bell, Secretary-Treasurer
  • James A. Summersett III, Administrator
  • Kevin Bloomquist
  • Javier De La Garza D.D.S.
  • Ramon F. Gonzales
  • Soyla R. Gonzalez
  • Sonja Ortega