St. Vincent Charity Hospital Launches $8.5 Million Capital Campaign to Expand Emergency Services

First Capital Campaign in more than 20 years for the Downtown Hospital

Cleveland, OH (November 7, 2006) – St. Vincent Charity Hospital has launched its first full-fledged capital campaign in more than 20 years. With a goal of $8.5 million, “We’re Here for Life” – The Campaign for St. Vincent Charity Hospital will provide funds to renovate and upgrade emergency department facilities and services provided by Cleveland’s downtown hospital. The public phase of the campaign was announced by campaign chairman Philip L. Rice, Ohio CEO, National City Bank, at Pizazzz 2006, a benefit attended by nearly 1,100 hospital supporters on October 21 at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel.

Through the project, the hospital will renovate the Emergency Department within its existing footprint and relocate its Psychiatric Emergency Department to a newly renovated, adjacent space. The project also includes investments in technology, training and other programmatic enhancements. Around $4 million has already been raised toward the overall goal of the campaign.

“Strategically located at East 22nd Street and Community College Avenue, St. Vincent Charity Hospital provides a crucial link to vital emergency and medical services for individuals living and working downtown, as well as to the millions of individuals visiting Cleveland each year,” said Jeffrey S. Jeney, hospital president and CEO. “A strong Emergency Department will help us meet a broad spectrum of community needs today, as well as be flexible enough to accommodate an increase in volume in the future.”

Originally constructed in the 1960s and updated in the 1970s, St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s Emergency Department was built to accommodate patient volume and medical standards prevalent at that time. “Since then, healthcare has dramatically evolved in terms of treatment modalities, best practices and quality standards,” said Jeney. “Additionally, patients and their loved ones need and expect a downtown hospital to provide a full continuum of quality emergency care in a convenient, updated environment.”

Jeney noted that the increasing number of patients being diverted from the city’s emergency rooms underscores the critical shortage that exists in emergency care. “We serve thousands of people who are uninsured, while also bridging the medical services gap created by the closure of several area hospitals in the past seven years,” he said. “Despite these challenges, we must ensure that quality emergency care is accessible to our residents at all times. This can only be achieved through the enhancement and expansion of services and capabilities.”

Monies raised through the campaign also will fund facility and programmatic enhancements to the hospital’s Psychiatric Emergency Department (PED). Distinguished as one of only two of its kind in Ohio and one of only six in the country, the PED provides a safety net for nearly 4,000 Northeast Ohioans in need of emergency behavioral healthcare services each year. “Individuals in need of psychiatric care had many more options when the PED was established more than 20 years ago,” said Jeney. “We must maintain a safe and respectful environment to accommodate patient volume growth.”