
ABOUT
The Bethesda Foundation was incorporated in July 1980. The core concept of the founders of the Foundation was to build a permanent capital base in order to generate funding that could be used to meet some of the health care enhancements of the hospital and community, beyond what is provided by government.
Over the years, several million dollars have been raised by the Foundation for special projects like the Emergency Department redevelopment, the Cancer Care/Obstetrics facility, the Crisis Stabilization Unit, and the new Bethesda Primary Care Centre. The Foundation has refurbished the Healing Garden at the Bethesda Regional Health Centre, creating an outdoor green space to enhance healing. Most recently Bethesda Foundation has committed to raising the community contribution required for the RestHaven Nursing Home expansion, bringing much-needed personal care beds to our growing community.
The Bethesda Foundation also plays an important role in supporting ongoing health care programs like palliative care, staff professional development and the chaplaincy program at Bethesda.
It is our mission to enhance health service in the Bethesda area through innovation, partnership and funding.
Board of directors
The Bethesda Foundation is governed by a board of directors, as listed below.

Linda Peters
Executive Director

Garth P. Reimer
Board Chair

Darrel Penner
Board Vice Chair

Milton Penner
Honorary Chair

Dr. Curtis Krahn
Director

Keith Unger
Director

Waldo Neustaedter
Director

Henry Van de Velde
Director

Dr. Karen Toews
Director

Chris Goertzen
Director

Kent Ledingham
Director

Christine Beaumont
Director
former board Members
Louis Balcaen (2011-2020)
Marg Rempel (2000-2019)
Clyde Loewen (1997-2019)
Gladys Derksen (1997-2017)
Milton Penner (1981-2015)
Anne K. Barkman (2011-2015)
Lyndon Friesen (2011-2014)
John Loewen (1990-2012)
Kenneth Friesen (1997-2011)
John Eric Neufeld (1997-2011)
Gordon Barkman (1981-2010)
Phyllis Penner (1991-2000)
Wilmar Chopyk (1994-1997)
Ernie Friesen (1980-1997)
Peter J. Reimer (1980-1997)
Gil Wiebe (1994-1997)
Robert Frey (1991-1994)
Allan W. Martin (1991-1993)
William S. Patmore (1990-1991)
George Pauls (1980-1990)
Peter Pauls (1980-1990)
Art Mensch (1980-1987)
William Kuzenko (1980-1986)
Our history
When a group of Steinbach and area church, community and business leaders mapped out a plan to ensure the best possible health care for their community, little did they know how solid a foundation they were building for future generations. That tradition of sharing and caring has not only continued, but has grown immeasurably over the last century, and to an even greater extent, in the years since the creation of the Bethesda Foundation.
That generous spirit, and the people who have embraced it, provide the thread woven throughout the history of the Bethesda Hospital and health care in the community of Steinbach, from its beginnings as the Mennonitischer Verein für Kranken-Hilfe, to the creation of the Bethesda Foundation more than 35 years ago. For the past 35 years, with the help of a generous community of donors, the Bethesda Foundation has acted as a catalyst; it played a leadership role in partnership with other healthcare providers, in welcome additions and major improvements to the Bethesda Hospital, and other health care facilities serving the Southeast. It will provide much-needed financial support in perpetuity.
Steinbach businessman P.J. Reimer, who started it all with his vision and an anonymous donation to launch the Bethesda Foundation, would indeed be proud of the effort being made by the next generation. They built on his legacy, which was shared by people such as Ernie A. Friesen, who was hospital board chairman for 20 years, Bethesda Hospital administrator Peter Pauls, whose organizational skills came to the fore, not only in running the hospital, but also in the groundwork for the eventual formation of the Bethesda Foundation.
Justice Gordon Barkman, the honorary chair of the founding board and an active board member for more than 30 years, provided leadership. Milton Penner, on the board since the beginning, played a prominent, behind-the-scenes role in fund-raising for the Foundation. Garth Reimer, son of P.J. Reimer, the second chairman of the Bethesda Foundation, picked up where his father left off in 1997.
(Pictured: Peter F. Barkman, construction committee chairman, passed the shovel to Ernie Friesen, board chairman, to turn sod at the construction site of a new 65-bed Bethesda Hospital. An impressive crowd of more than 80 people attended the sod turning ceremony Aug. 19, 1963.)

Our NAME
Because of a concern about the lack of aid for sick people, the Mennonitischer Verein für Kranken Hilfe, or the Mennonite Society for Aid to the Sick, was formed in 1930. It was a mission work by the Mennonites of the East Reserve, and all Mennonite Churches were to take part. At its inception, the Society consisted of 53 members who paid $3 each and ten associate members who paid $1.
The Society was dedicated to the assistance of the Vogt Hospital (Steinbach’s first hospital, established in 1929), but also had the intention of building a new hospital when the opportunity and economic possibility would present itself. Appropriately, this House of Healing would bear the name Bethesda, in reference to the healing pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem.
Today, our logo embodies visual elements that relate to and represent our organization. They include:
- A modern form of the first aid cross, originally established in the 19th century and still internationally recognized today.
- The centre of the cross represents a four-way intersection; a meeting place where community comes together.