Formerly known as the Tomball Hospital Authority, the group owned Tomball Regional Medical Center and managed its operations from 1976 until October 2011, when the hospital was sold to Community Health Systems Inc.

Today, TRHF uses proceeds from the sale to fund medical nonprofit groups around the area, CEO Lynn LeBouef said.

“We’ve stayed in the background, but the things we’re doing in the community are just tremendous,” LeBouef said. “Our board is very proud of it, and we’ve impacted a lot of lives and helped a lot of people.”

To identify the medical needs of the community, LeBouef said the foundation conducted a study in 2012 to see what areas of health care were most underserved. The study found mental health, dental care and public transportation were the most needed.

Since then, the foundation has donated over$9 million to fund projects in the community. They include the purchase of two wheelchair-accessible vans for Northwest EMS, $100,000 for Meals on Wheels in Magnolia and nearly $50,000 for Tomball ISD.

“Our mission is to see where the gaps are and try to see if we can plug those gaps,” he said.

In order to keep funding reserves stable, the board invests portions of the organization’s capital and uses the returns to continue to fund nonprofit organizations, LeBouef said.

“The board’s goal is to have a 100-year foundation so we have resources to provide for our community for a long time,” LeBouef said. “We have funded a little over $9 million in projects since we started in 2012, which is significant for this community.”

Tomball Regional Health Foundation 29201 Quinn Road, Ste. A, Tomball 832-559-5511 www.trhfoundation.org