Just months before the expected opening of the new hospital, efforts on the part of the REM Lee Hospital Foundation to finance a specialty service is bearing fruit.
More than one-third of the $14.5 million needed to add an intensive care unit for newborns has already been raised.
Officially called a Tier III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the four-bed unit means women and newborns who might otherwise have to be flown out to hospitals elsewhere for care will be able to stay in the region.
A Tier III NICU has the capacity to provide newborn care at 34 weeks, and 32 weeks in emergency cases, instead of the current 37 weeks, and also provides care to babies with medical or surgical conditions, regardless of age.
The unit was not part of the originally approved hospital suite of services and its cost was not part of the construction or equipment contract, a factor recognized by the foundation when it decided to raise the money needed by creating the Closer to Home campaign.
Donations have come in from corporations large and small as well as service clubs but individuals have also provided financial assistance, says Heather Bellamy, a foundation employee who has been at the forefront of the effort since it was launched last year.
"Private support has included many donations of historic levels for the foundation and represent more than a third of the funds needed for the project," she said.
One such NICU support campaign which culminated on the Saturday of the August long weekend at the Riverboat Days Concerts in the Park event was a challenge between local grad classes.
"The idea started with my oldest brother Mark who was coming to Riverboat Days for his 50th grad reunion. I didn't know at the beginning that there were actually several other grad classes meeting up, so we just called it the 50 Year Grad Challenge and opened it up for any graduating class to challenge other classes."
The biggest response came from the Class of 1969 with 74 alumni and spouses attending an event to raise $3,350.
But the largest donations came from two donors who donated in the grad years of 1975 and 1977, boosting the overall total raised $32,218, Bellamy said.
The winners received a Dr. REM Lee Hospital Foundation logoed picnic blanket with "Closer to Home" NICU Campaign printed on it, and a variety of gift cards.
