Helping to Create the $850,000 Challenge: A Diversified Approach to Expanding Emergency Care
“Healthcare is something we all depend on and emergencies don’t discriminate – they can happen to you, your family, and your neighbors.” Says Renae Ransdell, CFP®, Senior Wealth Advisor and Managing Director, Diversified, LLC. “Contributing to the campaign for the emergency department is a direct way to ensure that our hospital is prepared when those emergencies happen.”
Recently, the Northampton office of Diversified, LLC, a Family Wealth Management company, led by Renae and her dedicated team, joined with other businesses and individuals to create the $850,000 community challenge in support of the expansion and renovation of the emergency department at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
“As a wealth management firm serving individuals and families, we help our clients plan for the long term. This includes guiding charitable giving strategies, legacy plans, and community impact goals.
“Equally as important is our role as a small business in this community,” emphasizes Renae. “Access to care for our clients is paramount. Most of our clients live, work, and play in the Pioneer Valley. They raise their families here, and they receive their care here, too.”
“Our tightknit team is right there with them,” continued Renae, “We also live in the communities that Cooley Dickinson serves. When we were considering a gift in support of the campaign, we had several conversations that surrounded around one main point: we see what is happening with healthcare across the country and we knew that we had to do something to help make sure that our community hospital is as strong as possible.”
“When people hear the word ‘philanthropy’ they often think in millions of dollars given. And, while there are some individuals and businesses that can offer that incredible level of generosity, equally impactful efforts can often be more grass roots.
“Philanthropy doesn’t have to be about seven-figure gifts,” Ransdell says. “It’s about intention. Whether you give $100 or $100,000, you’re part of something bigger than yourself. It’s the everyday contributors supporting a cause they feel passionate about.” She continues, “That’s where transformation happens, and community is made.”
To Join Diversified LLC, donate online Now, click here and select “Transforming Emergency Care”
The Need
Cooley Dickinson’s Emergency Department is 40% undersized to meet our community’s needs and cares for many patients requiring critical medical attention. The number of patients visiting the department has grown from 17,000 annually in the 1970s to nearly 34,000 in recent years. For those patients, our team treats approximately 300 traumatic injuries per year and last year alone over 6,000 patients needed to be admitted for further care.
Many of our patients also need specialized mental and behavioral health support. Hampshire County has a high rate of mental health hospitalizations compared to the state, with 1,067 hospitalizations per 100,000 people as compared to 853 per 100,000 for the state.
The current Emergency Department was not designed to face the challenges of the 21st century; it does not have the space to care for this many patients or to provide the specialized care our community needs.
Cooley Dickinson’s new Emergency Department waiting room and Nurse Check in.
Your Gifts to the Emergency Department will Support
Shorter Wait Times
More, and better designed spaces mean patients receive care sooner.
Increased Privacy
Given our current space constraints, patients sometimes are treated in hallways.
Improved Coordination of Care
Key renovations will enhance staff communication and effectiveness.
CT Scanner Embedded in ED
The relocation of one of our CT scanners will reduce the time it takes for patients to get a scan—a difference that can be life changing.
Enhanced Behavioral Health Delivery
Given the high rate of mental health hospitalizations in our service area, our current behavioral health pod is half the necessary size. Specialized spaces will create a healing environment that respects the privacy of all.
Continuity of Care
Over 30% of our patients arrive via ambulance. Your gifts support continuity of care that starts and ends in your home.
Enhanced Pediatric Care
Improvements will include Pediatric Friendly areas for children who are being seen or are in observation.
Enhanced Geriatric Care
The American College of Emergency Physicians recently awarded Cooley Dickinson Hospital Level 3 Geriatric Accreditation. Older adults can rest assured that our ED has the necessary expertise, equipment, and personnel in place to provide optimal care. And more space and specialized equipment will enable us to strive for even higher accreditation levels.
Building Upon a Foundation of Strengths
- A remarkable team of dedicated, highly skilled staff who are committed to continually improving patient care;
- High patient satisfaction scores for care received, compassionate delivery of care, and patients recommending the department to loved ones;
- Expertise, experience, and equipment to care for our entire community from infants to elders;
- Mass General Brigham Affiliation. Real-time access to these world-class academic institutions gives staff a tremendous clinical edge in providing the best care possible to our patients.
Be Part of the Transformation!
To make a gift in support of the Emergency Department at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, call our Development Office at 413-582-2255 or click the button below to donate online (select “Transforming Emergency Care” on the donation page):
To donate online, click here and select “Transforming Emergency Care”
Rich Cooper & Catherine Kay: A Community Centered Commitment to Health
For Rich Cooper and Catherine Kay, there was no hesitation in making a gift to expand and renovate the Emergency Department (ED) at Cooley Dickinson.
“To know that we are part of building a better ED at our community hospital adds so much meaning to our lives,” Catherine noted. “When either of us, or our children, have had to be at the ED it is isn’t because we planned to be there. It is because we were sick, and we needed help right then.”
“The medical staff in the ED have always provided us excellent care and they continue to do so,” she emphasized, “they just need an updated physical space to provide that great care.”
The $26 million renovation does just that: providing an updated and expanded space designed with safe, high-quality patient care at the center. At completion, patients to the new ED will benefit from improved coordination of care, increased privacy, and shorter wait times.
Catherine continues, “this renovation gives us what we needed – an ED that is better organized and outfitted to support the fantastic medical team; and, to support the patients who are there to get treatment in those really serious every-second-counts situations.”
As a life-long resident of Northampton, and a small business owner, Rich understands the impact that their giving will have for their community.
“My history goes back a long time,” Rich recalls. “My father was born at Cooley Dickinson in 1918. He later met my mother when she was a student at the School of Nursing there. My two older brothers and I were born at Cooley, and our 3 children were born there. We have a real connection to the hospital.”
“And, as a small business owner in Northampton, in Florence, for over 40 years, I know the importance of quality of life,” added Rich. “The hospital is part of the quality of life. And an important part of a good community hospital is a good emergency department.”
Catherine elaborates, “I think this community is special because people understand that community doesn’t make itself – we all must contribute. And the more we give, the better, the stronger, the richer the fabric of our community is.”
“Being part of something bigger than ourselves adds so much meaning to our lives,” says Catherine. “To know that we are part of building a better ED gives us a lot of joy.”
