Kicking Off a Campaign

 

Cooley Dickinson Hospital announced last week that it has received a $100,000 gift from Greenfield Cooperative Bank to support the expansion and renovation of its 50-year-old Emergency Department. The bank’s donation also serves as the kickoff gift for a $1,000,000 challenge opportunity.

“This incredibly generous gift in support of the Emergency Department is an investment in our shared commitment to a healthy Pioneer Valley,” said Dr. Lynnette Watkins, president and chief operating officer of Cooley Dickinson Health Care. “We are honored and grateful to Greenfield Cooperative Bank for this gift of support, which will benefit their customers, our patients, and our collective communities by providing access to the region’s top providers and leading healthcare services in a newly renovated and expanded Emergency Department.”

The gift will support the $26 million expansion, reconfiguration, and renovation effort to allow Cooley Dickinson to meet the ever-evolving emergency-medicine needs of the community it serves. To accomplish this goal, the hospital has embarked on an ambitious and comprehensive fundraising campaign, with nearly $7.2 million has been raised to date.

“Cooley Dickinson Hospital is a vital part of the health of our neighbors in the Valley,” said Tony Worden, president and CEO of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. “This donation is a way for us to show our support for the hospital and the people it serves. Many of our staff, family, and friends have needed to receive care at the Emergency Department. We are grateful for the work that the hospital does, and we are thrilled to help them continue their mission.”

Worden added that “Greenfield Cooperative Bank is committed to giving back to the community, and we believe that supporting our local hospital is one of the best ways to do that. We are proud to be a part of this community, and we want to do our part to make it a healthier place.”

Diane Dukette, Cooley Dickinson’s chief Development officer, noted that the generosity of Greenfield Cooperative Bank will have a transformational impact as the kickoff gift for the $1 million Harold Grinspoon Foundation Challenge, which launched on Sept. 1.

Through Aug. 31, 2024, she noted, every new cash donation to Transforming Emergency Care: The Campaign for the Cooley Dickinson Emergency Department will be matched 50%, up to $1 million, by the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation. “When successful, that means that we will raise up to an additional $2 million for this campaign.”

Cooley Dickinson is expected to serve 40,000 Emergency Department patients this year. That care will be provided in a 1970s-era building that was designed for 17,000 patients annually and is currently 40% undersized. A shortage of space means some patients are treated in hallways. The Emergency Department also needs to expand its services to care for an aging population (triple what it was just 10 years ago). In addition, the expansion will provide additional beds for people experiencing mental-health emergencies.

The two-year project calls for adding 6,600 square feet of space, including nine new patient rooms; eight behavioral-health beds, which can ‘flex’ as patient needs arise; and a family waiting area. In addition, a computerized tomography (CT) scanning machine, which provides timely access to diagnostic imaging, will be added to the Emergency Department.

“This campaign is critical to the health of our community,” Dukette said. “In the newly renovated Emergency Department, patients will see a nurse when they arrive, they will be treated in single patient rooms that allow for privacy, and a central nurses’ station means our clinicians can respond better to patient needs. Overall, this is about making the Emergency Department as efficient and up-to-date as possible to enable our talented providers to take the best possible care of their patients. We are so truly grateful for Greenfield Cooperative Bank for stepping forward and supporting Cooley Dickinson Hospital so generously.”