Campaign pg 3 11-10-11
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Making Progress
Day Kimball Healthcare’s (DKH) “Care in a Heartbeat” Campaign to rebuild the hospital’s emergency department has raised $2 million of its $3 million fund-raising goal. Pictured, left to right: Dr. Michael Baum, a general surgeon at Day Kimball Healthcare and his wife Denise of Pomfret, Conn.; DKH Medical Director of the Department of Emergency Medicine Dr. Steven Wexler with “Care In A Heartbeat” Co-Chairs Peter Deary and Kimberly Lane, and DKH President & CEO Robert Smanik. The Baums donated a lead individual gift of $50,000 to the Campaign. Courtesy photo.
PUTNAM — Peter Deary has first-hand knowledge of the importance of a quality hospital emergency department. The Pomfret resident and owner of Sunnyside Farms credits Day Kimball Hospital’s emergency department with saving his life. Twice.
“I was hit in a head-on auto collision in which the driver of the other car did not survive,” said Deary. “The doctors at Day Kimball saved my life from the accident and in the process detected that I had kidney cancer, which they ultimately caught early enough to cure. To say that I’m indebted to this wonderful hospital is an understatement.”
This is why Deary, former Day Kimball board chair, and his wife, Kimberly Lane, APRN, Day Kimball Healthcare, have stepped forward as co-chairs of Day Kimball Healthcare’s “Care in a Heartbeat” Campaign to support the rebuilding of the hospital’s emergency department. A “quiet phase” of the Campaign already has netted $2 million through leadership donations from individuals and businesses. Now, another $1 million needs to be raised from the community to meet the $3 million fund-raising goal. This phase of the Campaign is being co-chaired by Karen and Gary Osbrey, owners of WINY radio.
The $2 million netted during the “quiet phase” of the Campaign came from individual donors, the physician community and local businesses, including major gifts from: Steven and Marjolaine Townsend of Brooklyn, $500,000; The Citizens National Bank, David Conrad, president & CEO, Putnam, $250,000; The Center for Bone and Joint Care, Putnam, $120,000; Linemaster Switch Corporation, Joseph Carlone Jr., executive vice president, Woodstock, $100,000; Dr. Michael and Denise Baum, Pomfret, $50,000.
Day Kimball Hospital’s emergency department (ED) was constructed in 1970 with renovations done in 1990 and was designed to serve 18,000 patients per year. Today, the ED cares for more than 30,000 people annually, with forecasts indicating that number will get bigger over the next few years.
“The current emergency department is too small based on present-day volume and architectural standards, lacks privacy, and inhibits physician and staff recruitment,” said Douglas Waite, MD, Day Kimball vice president of Medical Affairs & Quality.
Included will be: Construction of a new entrance and covered canopy; renovation of the waiting room; registration at patient’s bedside; doubling the number of patient rooms; establishment of all-private treatment rooms, which is considered perhaps the most significant improvement; purchase of additional cardiac monitoring equipment; construction of a state-of-the-art resuscitation room; purchase of specialty equipment – including special beds and bariatric equipment; construction of dedicated and discreet psychiatric treatment rooms; improvement to the existing “Prompt Care” suite; construction of a family room; establishment of staff-support areas consisting of workstations and equipment storage space to reduce congestion; construction of a separate, covered ambulance entrance.
“It is important to emphasize that the main reason for this effort is to provide superior and improved care to our emergency room patients,” said Robert Smanik, president and CEO, Day Kimball Healthcare.
Added Karen Osbrey, “And just think... if each of the 30,000 people who received care at the Day Kimball ED were to donate just $35, we’d exceed our community goal. Every donation, no matter what size, will help us.”
For information about the “Care in a Heart” Campaign, call Day Kimball Healthcare Director of Development Pamela Watts at 928-7141 or visit www.daykimball.org/care.