A Million Dollar Donation
One Million Given to Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, Donors Hope to Inspire Others
January 6, 2006
A local couple, who wish to remain anonymous, has presented one million dollars to Phelps Memorial Hospital Center for its new emergency department.
The donors, who were paying a pledge made in the spring, feel strongly that it is important for their community to have a new emergency department in its hospital. They are a philanthropic couple who hope to inspire others to make generous gifts to Phelps.
When he came to deliver the check, the donor asked to see Keith Safian, Phelps President and CEO. Safian was not available, so he handed the check to Bonnie D’Emidio, Safian’s Executive Assistant. “It was like a scene from the mid-1950’s TV show, ‘The Millionaire,’ where someone was presented with $1 million from a benefactor,” said D’Emidio. “You can imagine my surprise when he handed me a regular personal check, as if he was simply paying one of his monthly bills!”
“This is the largest cash donation that the hospital has ever received,” said Safian. “The fact that it was paid in a lump sum gives it added impact. Often, these types of donations are paid over a period of time, up to five years. It will do much to accelerate an already successful Capital Campaign to construct our new Emergency Department.”
With this donation, the Campaign has raised just over $11 million. Included in this amount are Phelps’ largest government grant in history, a $450,000 federal grant secured by Congresswoman Nita Lowey, and an $800,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation.
Construction of the new Emergency Department is expected to be completed in the spring of 2008. The new ED will be nearly three times larger than the present department and will have 30 private rooms. The emphasis will be on patients’ physical and emotional comfort, providing telephone and television in every room, and it will feature state-of-the-art medical technology.
In 2004 the Emergency Department provided care to more than 22,000 patients. The new facility will accommodate projected growth – up to 44,000 emergency patients annually in 10 to 15 years.
Phelps Memorial Hospital is a 235-bed community hospital with 450 medical staff, representing 34 different medical specialties. Phelps is the exclusive Westchester Satellite for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a clinical affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the newest member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System.