Wild Rose Casino and Grow Greene County have each pledged $100,000, for a total of $200,000 to Greene County Medical Center’s $4 million “Investing in Tomorrow’s Care” capital campaign. This combined gift puts the campaign beyond its $4 million goal.
Medical Center chief executive officer Carl Behne said, “This combined gift clearly shows the commitment that Wild Rose Casino and the Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation have to helping this community grow. We are extremely grateful for both of these gifts.”
Tom Timmons, president of Wild Rose Casino, said, “We are very pleased to be part of this project, and in particular to have helped Greene County Medical Center achieve its funding goal. At Wild Rose, we believe in good corporate citizenship and in providing leadership to our communities. This project will help ensure quality health care to the citizens of Greene County and surrounding areas. We thank the Grow Greene County Gaming Corp. for joining us in this endeavor, and we look forward to seeing the finished project.”
Norm Fandel, Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation president, said, “This is the vision the board had in getting the casino in Greene County – using the funds on projects like the medical center’s. With revenues available on an annual basis, we are looking for projects like this to enhance and improve lives in Greene County. It is a privilege as well as rewarding to be a part of a successful project like the medical center’s. We look forward to new projects to enhance more lives far into the future.”
The capital campaign, co-chaired by community leaders Rick Morain and John Gerken, was jumpstarted with a $2 million anonymous private gift in early 2014. Since then, an additional $2 million has been raised, but it was the end-of-year commitments from Wild Rose Casino and Grow Greene County that took the campaign over its goal.
“We’re deeply grateful to everyone who committed so generously to the capital campaign, and to the campaign committee members who did the hard work of promoting the effort one-on-one with potential donors,” campaign co-chair Rick Morain said.
Morain also noted, “To my knowledge, a $4 million campaign is the largest non-governmental fundraising effort in Greene County’s history, and its success shows the depth of commitment that area residents have to Greene County Medical Center. We’re delighted to celebrate with everyone the achievement of our goal.”
The campaign was launched in support of the medical center’s major expansion and renovation project, which is expected to be completed in the summer of 2016. The project focuses on increasing patient privacy, providing easier access to services and improving efficiencies throughout the medical center.
Phase One was completed in September 2015. This phase includes a 52,000-square-foot expansion on the east end of the medical center campus, which features a more visible and accessible emergency care unit. Surgery, imaging, laboratory and sleep study services were also moved to the new space. Private patient rooms and two labor and delivery suites complete the services offered in the expansion area.
Phase Two of the project is now underway with renovations of former outpatient service space on level A, which will eventually include expanded spaces for West Central Orthopedics, Advanced Women’s Care, 21st Century Rehab and visiting specialty physicians. The previous business office and patient room area on level 1 is being renovated into a new education center and business and administrative offices. A visible and accessible walkway on the south side of the medical center will connect the main entrance to the lower clinics entrance and complete the renovations.
Medical center foundation director Hollie Roberts said, “The consistent support throughout our capital campaign has been a confirmation of the commitment our communities have to quality health care. The dedication and enthusiasm of our campaign volunteers was inspiring, humbling and gratifying.”
Roberts believes that “to complete a project that will affect so many individuals today and into the future describes the purpose of philanthropy in the simplest of ways: the love of mankind.”
Numerous smaller, but equally significant, donations from community members throughout Greene County and beyond also helped the campaign reach its goal. A full listing of those making donations in 2015 will be in the upcoming Always publication, which will be available the first week of February.
