News

Little Falls Hospital receives $1.5 million gift

Posted January 06, 2008 10:00 pm

Dana C. Silano

Little Falls Hospital recently received a donation of $1.575 million from the F.M. Kirby Foundation of Morristown, NJ, to fund the renovations and expansion of the Emergency Department.

"This gift honors the diligent efforts of so many health care professionals and community volunteers who have committed themselves to the continuous improvement of Little Falls Hospital, and to our vision of achieving excellence in every aspect of the care we provide," said Jonathan I. Lawrence, president and CEO.

The donation came in response to Little Falls Hospital's 2007 grant request, which was prepared with the understanding of the Kirby Foundation's interest in the hospital's plans for the Emergency Department. In light of the significance of the gift, the hospital will name the new facility the F.M. Kirby Emergency Department.

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Plans for the department include 12 individual, uniformly equipped, adequately lit and properly furnished treatment rooms. The trauma room will be relocated adjacent to the ambulance entrance. Patient triage and registration areas will offer new levels of privacy and efficiency to enhance care of critically ill and ambulatory patients.

"Basically," said Director of Community Relations and Development Kate Reese, "the entire emergency department will be on one floor and more easily accessible than it already is."

Some residents might question what other work has been done to the emergency department in recent years.

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Lawrence said the hospital has invested millions of dollars into the improvement of the facilities over the last couple of years, but the department's overall design has not changed. "We've invested in a lot of equipment," he said. "This needs to be done during the course of a year, to adhere to the HEAL NY grant we applied for."

The New York State Department of Health notified the hospital in December 2006 that it and Valley Health Services had been awarded more than $2 million in matching grant funds provided through the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL NY Phase II). HEAL II grant funds were awarded to hospitals and nursing homes that demonstrated a commitment to investing in the restructuring and reconfiguration of their facility to further improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of care to patients.

Lawrence said the hospital would use the funds to modify and reconfigure several clinical areas throughout the facility, resulting in improved efficiency and better patient flow in high volume areas. At that time, he also had emphasized the timeliness of the grant following plans by Bassett Healthcare to expand surgical services at Little Falls Hospital. The project list included renovations to the emergency room, medical surgical floor, critical care and operating room facilities.

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"The HEAL grant recognized what we have done to downsize and become a more effective organization for the community," Lawrence said.

He said the grant also recognized the hospital had become affiliated with Bassett and downsized its number of beds in critical access.

Construction has begun and is in the process of putting to work the money between HEAL NY and the gift from F.M. Kirby Foundation.

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The hospital will undergo several phases of construction over the course of 2008.

"Since 1984, the F.M. Kirby Foundation has supported Little Falls Hospital with gifts totaling more than $261,000," Reese said. "This support has enabled Little Falls Hospital to upgrade and purchase diagnostic and clinical equipment throughout the hospital."

"This is a continuation of the work we've done to become an efficient facility," Lawrence said. He stressed that the hospital's Emergency Department is as accessible as possible for the general public, to get the proper care they need 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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Information regarding the construction process will be available on easels in the corridors of the hospital for the benefit of the public and staff.

Contractors for the project are Charles A. Gaetano Construction Corporation and Holt Architects is the design firm.

Little Falls Hospital's more recent technology upgrades and purchases of equipment total $1,577,509, not including ancillary costs of the hospital. These include digital ultrasound equipment costing $151,869; a radiology digital processor costing $170,775; patient archiving and communication systems (PACS) at $307,399; system connectivity with Bassett Healthcare's enterprise patient visit and billing management system at a cost of $144,238 and a 40-slice computed tomography scanner at a cost of $803,228.

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"As we reflect on the accomplishments and progress at Little Falls Hospital since our affiliation with Bassett Healthcare, this special gift serves as an inspiration to all of us throughout the new year, and will reaffirm our confidence that the future of Little Falls Hospital is more secure and brighter than ever," Lawrence said.

The F. M. Kirby Foundation is a family foundation. Its grantees are largely in geographic areas of particular interest to five generations of Kirby family members and, in many cases, are organizations with which family members have been associated.

"We're continuing to make capital investments in equipment to support our emergency department and our facilities," Lawrence said. "I think it's a significant tribute from the F.M. Kirby Foundation to the entire staff at Little Falls Hospital and the community. A significant vote of confidence in the tremendous amount of work accomplished by so many people in the past few years. This gift validates the decision of the board of directors to become affiliated with Bassett Healthcare. That affiliation has given this organization the stability and the depth it has needed to be successful both in short term and its long term liability."

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"Little Falls Hospital is profoundly grateful for this exceptionally generous gift in support of the expansion and renovation of our emergency department," said John Bullis, president of the Little Falls Hospital Board of Trustees. "This project goes beyond the bricks and mortar of expanding our emergency department. It's about improving how patients access health care and changing how we deliver care to our community."

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