Over 100 members of the Northwest Hospital Foundation Corporation gathered for their annual meeting on Wednesday, October 12 at The Franklin, where they reflected on foundation activities over the past year and were introduced to several new UPMC Northwest initiatives. Board chair, Frank Gill, welcomed 12 new members from surrounding communities to the corporation: Randy Amsler; Bill Buchna; Michael Dill; Dr. Roxanne Gonzales; Judy Lentz; Jodi Lewis; Mary Louise Logue; Richard Mihalic; Will Price; Ryan Rudegeair; Roxanne Spaid; Doug Volmerich.
An important benchmark was reached when the foundation board participated 100 percent as donors, personally demonstrating their commitment to the organization’s mission. This achievement resulted in enough funds to be set aside for a clothing fund for patients who are treated at UPMC Northwest who present at the hospital without sufficient clothing or who may find themselves without clothing due to a rape situation or an accident. Philanthropic support to the foundation was highlighted with mention of two recent grants. The Addison Gibson Trust recently provided $100,000 of uncompensated care to area patients and The Phillips Charitable Trust provided $50,000 for paving the walking trail at UPMC Northwest.
The Northwest Hospital Foundation has provided UPMC Northwest with over $1.2 Million over the past twelve months. That funding has been put towards services such as: Uncompensated Care, Blue-Light Cystoscopy, Navigational Bronchoscopy, Centervue Digital Retinography System (DRS), Behavioral Health Mural, Sleep Safe & Snug Children’s Book, TCU/Rehab Unit Pledge on $3 million commitment, and a Hospital Clothing Fund Donation for the underserved.
Mr. Gill shared a letter from a patient who had received help in the form of uncompensated care from the foundation, thanking them for providing care when the patient could not.
Hospital President, David Gibbons, shared UPMC Northwest is looking at what he referred to as a great trajectory, despite distress among other hospitals. UPMC Northwest has become a top performer in quality initiatives, with a dramatic increase in the number of patients being served, resulting in a profound effect on the surrounding community with the addition of new treatment options to aid with diagnoses and better treatment. Gibbons says, “Our goal is to provide high-quality care with state of the art equipment.”
Gibbons outlined several successful areas of program development including telehealth/ telemedicine services and the opening of a 16-bed extended acute care unit as a part of the Behavioral Health department. The 2016 fiscal year also included the purchase of new CT and MRI machines with construction slated for early spring of 2017 to house the new equipment.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has given UPMC Northwest in Seneca four stars out of five in its annual comparison of the nation’s hospitals. The star rating reflects comprehensive quality information about the care provided at our nation’s hospitals based on 64 quality measures.
A review of Northwest Hospital Foundation’s financial report was presented by McGill Power, Bell and Associates, LLP who declared a clean opinion of the foundation audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015, with work currently under way on the 2016 audit.
Mr. Gill concluded the meeting by sharing with the corporation membership, “Little streams make a big river. Little bits from all of us add up to be something quite significant.”