CANANDAIGUA – The board of directors for the Thompson Health Guild recently approved a commitment to support the expansion and renovation of UR Medicine Thompson Hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) and pulmonary clinic.
The approved $280,000 will be provided over a four-year period, beginning in June of 2019. It will go toward state-of-the-art equipment for the pulmonary clinic, which will be on the ground floor of the new, 12-bed ICU.
To date, Thompson has raised more than $8.3 million of the $11 million needed for the expansion and renovation. Going from the current seven ICU beds to 12 will enable Thompson to have full-time coverage from intensivists – physicians specially trained in the care and management of critical care patients. In addition, the hospital will send fewer patients to Rochester due to limited capacity, caring for an additional 250 to 330 critically ill patients annually.
The pulmonary clinic will see patients suffering from chronic lung conditions such as asthma, emphysema, congestive obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and other diseases. The new clinic will be approximately triple the current size, and will enable Thompson to see many more patients than current space allows, in turn helping keep patients out of the hospital and in their homes.
“We are tremendously grateful to the Thompson Health Guild for supporting this important project. Given the organization’s history of providing key support each time our health system has grown to accommodate the changing needs of our community, it seems only natural it should play a significant role in helping Thompson take this next crucial step,” said Thompson Health President/CEO Michael F. Stapleton Jr., FACHE.
The guild, which is the health system’s auxiliary, was founded in 1905. It has nearly 150 members and is governed by the volunteer board of directors who oversee a variety of fundraising events each year. In December of 2018, the Guild will be closing out its most recent commitments, to the hospital’s lactation suite – which opened in 2017 – and its breast imaging center, which opened in 2015.
“While the Guild has always supported the health system, we have most recently tried to focus on patient care and associate education needs,” said Guild President Robert Locke. “This project is unique in that it brings a well-known need to the community with expanded pulmonary care services. It also fulfills an intensive care need, allowing our residents to get care closer to home, and it solidifies the health system’s financial and competitive future.”
“We hope our pledge will encourage the community to add their support,” he added.
For more information about the project, visit www.ThompsonHealth.com/OurICU.