COVID-19 Office of Development Letter – July 28, 2020
Dear Friend of Greenwich Hospital,
We are thankful for your partnership during COVID-19, from the earliest days in March 2020. You thoughtfully offered a helping hand and, in so doing, lifted the spirits of our team, sustained excellence in the delivery of care for our patients and inspired all of us. Today,
- we have one COVID-19 positive inpatient.
- we have admitted a total of 690 patients since the pandemic began.
- 89 of our staff members tested positive since early March and have returned to work.
- we tested asymptomatic employees and of the 850 Greenwich Hospital employees tested only one asymptomatic positive returned.
Your generosity created a model of care for patients and support for devoted staff. You infused our community with renewed energy. In these quieter days as we see a reduction in cases, we are indebted to those who value the importance of supporting a world-class hospital. Part of this support enabled the implementation of these innovative programs:
COVID-19 Dedicated Unit at Greenwich Hospital – A generous gift from an anonymous donor couple established the COVID-19 Unit which includes designated rooms where staff can don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE). These safe locations enable staff to carefully put on and remove protective gear, including isolation gowns, gloves, N95 respirators, face shields or powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) suits. The hooded PAPR suit with built-in face shield uses a portable battery-powered blower to draw air through a filter. It allows the caregiver to breathe more naturally while feeling a constant airflow. The single-unit PAPR combines respiratory, head, eye and face protection and can be customized for many work environments. Because of their generosity, we are prepared in enhanced infectious disease care.
COVID-19 Employee Disaster Relief Fund – The O’Malley Family Foundation launched this new fund which provides assistance to employees of Greenwich Hospital as well as other frontline employees from across Yale New Haven Health who traveled to Greenwich Hospital to help during the height of the pandemic in this region. The Fund will support the financial stress stemming from the pandemic, which included the loss of household income, increased childcare costs and COVID-related critical care expenses, to name a few. The new program will lower the burden for employees after a difficult time that impacted people in many ways.
The Greenwich Hospital Education Fund: Investing in our Healthcare Professionals – The Jean and David W. Wallace Foundation, Inc. established a fund to help advance the professional goals of healthcare professionals at Greenwich Hospital through education and training tailored to their particular goals for professional advancement. The education fund may cover attendance and/or participation in professional conferences, award scholarships, and may be used to defray costs of tuition at degree-granting institutions at the associates, bachelors and graduate level. This gift recognizes all that the team learned during the pandemic and encourages staff to build their future educational plans around that learning.
Today, Greenwich Hospital is ready to address all of your healthcare needs. We look with great enthusiasm at a bright future where we are continuing to build clinical excellence in neuroscience, oncology, pediatrics and heart and vascular services.
From all of us at Greenwich Hospital, thank you for your support.
Noël Appel
Senior Vice President
Chief Development Officer