The Huntsville Municipal Accommodation Tax Association (HMATA) has donated $30,000 to the Huntsville Hospital Foundation (HHF), recognizing the impact of tourism on local healthcare.
Kelly Haywood, executive director for HMATA and Explore Huntsville says they are “thrilled” to support and to have the HHF that raise funds to ensure residents and visitors alike have access to hospital care.
“It means so much to the HMATA board and staff that we contribute to the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, not only because of the incredible need for its growth and development, but also fundamentally because we recognize the impact bringing a lot of people to Huntsville has on the hospital,” says Haywood.
According to officials, tourism in Huntsville boosts the local economy but also increases demand for healthcare services at the hospital. They add HMATA has donated $80,000 to the HHF since 2023.
Katherine Craine, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, says the foundation is grateful for HMATA’s support and recognition of the hard work being done by the hospital’s professionals.
“Our emergency department is quite often over capacity — especially in the summer when we have at least three times the number of emergency department visits. Twenty per cent of our overall emergency department visits are from outside of our area,” says Craine.
According to Craine, the foundation has a $35 million initial fundraising goal for the new hospital, but the actual cost of the project is expected to be more over time.
“We’ve also got to keep the current hospital running and the equipment coming in. The government does not pay for equipment at the hospital — that’s all through donations from our community to our Foundation,” she says.
Explore Huntsville, the visitor attraction entity launched by HMATA, is currently accepting grant applications from businesses and organizations for innovative projects that will attract visitors to the town.
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