When Lakeway Regional Medical Center transitioned to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Lakeway last fall, hospital leadership brought on Director of Philanthropy Chris Beck to organize a group of community leaders who would work to fundraise and connect hospital staff with the Lake Travis area.

“As a new, not-for-profit health care provider in the region, we wanted the hospital to serve the community the best it can,” Beck said. “The Development Advisory Board is a collaboration that gives the community a voice and opens doors for them to express what they want health care in this area to look like in the future.”

The Development Advisory Board, established in December, is focused on raising funds to enhance hospital programs, such as neurosciences, orthopedics, and stroke and trauma emergency services, he said. Funds gathered by the board or individual donors can also support charitable care for patients who do not have the ability to pay for service, Beck said.

“We are always looking to have the most advanced technology and innovative services,” he said. “We’re here to help the community in whatever needs they have, so priorities can change as board members hear more input from the community and about other opportunities.”

The board’s first source of funding came internally from the hospital, Beck said. Through an employee giving campaign in March, the board raised $20,000 from the medical center's employees exclusively, he said.

“It was a great message for me to know that the employees were committed to the program,” Beck said. “A lot of employees stepped up and showed support for the community.”

Before joining Baylor Scott & White last year, Beck worked in health care fundraising at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and the Red Cross, he said. He also spent eight years as a fundraiser at Concordia University Texas where he was introduced to the Lake Travis community, he said.

“I do know the community well, and the board members we have were invited to join because they’re from Westlake, Steiner Ranch and other areas around Lake Travis,” Beck said. “It’s a great community to work with, and people are excited to hear about all of the new programs and specialists that are being provided by [Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Lakeway].”

Beck said he hopes to become a part of Leadership Lake Travis, a networking and educational program organized by the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce, in the coming months, and that the board is already present in the Bee Cave, Westlake and West Austin chambers of commerce.

Although the board may host fundraising events and galas in the future, he said building one-on-one connections with interested financial donors is the most meaningful way to initially get its mission introduced to the public.