ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996                   TAG: 9607050096
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER 

FOUNDATION RISES FROM ALLEGHANY HOSPITAL BUYOUT

Former Roanoke banker Lewis Nelson is in an enviable position. He has money to give away.

Nelson is executive director of The Alleghany Foundation, which holds $35 million in a charitable trust set up last May when Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. of Nashville bought the nonprofit Alleghany Regional Hospital in Low Moor.

Columbia is the nation's largest for-profit hospital company, and it converted Alleghany to a for-profit hospital. The foundation that came out of the sale is a way of reimbursing the community for its support of the nonprofit hospital.

Each year, 5 percent of the foundation money, about $1.8 million this year, must be distributed to programs that will benefit residents of an area that includes Alleghany County, Covington, Clifton Forge and Iron Gate.

Residents raised $1.2 million to help with the construction of Alleghany Regional Hospital in 1976. The new facility combined Emmett Memorial Hospital in Clifton Forge and Alleghany Memorial Hospital in Covington.

Applications for the first giveaway are due Sept. 3, and the first grants should be made in December, Nelson said. Another round of grants will be awarded in May, based on a Dec. 1 application deadline.

The foundation's board will decide which proposals get funded. But Nelson said the group is especially interested in improving child-care facilities and establishing a free clinic in the area. Improving the staffing of nurses in the schools also is a project that will get consideration, he said.

A recent workshop for potential applicants brought out 60 groups, but Nelson would like to interest even more. He said he wants Roanoke agencies, such as the Virginia Water Project, the Roanoke Symphony and the Roanoke Fine Arts Museum, to consider what they could offer in the Alleghany area.

The median household income in the Alleghany area, based on 1990 U.S. Census data, ranges from $20,913 to $26,486.

To qualify for a grant, an agency must qualify as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code. Nelson can be reached at (540)962-0970.

LENGTH: Short :   49 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Nelson (headshot)