The Cherokee, Clay, Graham (CCG) Health Foundation has donated $40,000 to Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital(EWCH).
“The CCG Foundation has donated funds to help support this facility for many years,” said Andrew Reichman, chairman of the CCG board, in a statement.
EWCH says it will use the funds to purchase five automated external defibrillators (AED), a flexible fiber-optic ureteral scope for surgical procedures, a urine analyzer for the lab, a treadmill for the cardiac rehab department and a mobile computer workstation.
Reichman says that the foundation has stepped up its fundraising efforts by hiring a grant writer to apply for capital, equipment, and facility improvements that the hospital needs. The CCG Health Foundation was formed in 1994. It originally supported the Murphy Medical Center before it was purchased by Chattanooga-based Erlanger Health System in 2018 when the hospital became Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital(EWCH).
EWCH is one of the last non-profit hospitals in Western North Carolina. In June, the hospital’s CEO Mark Kimball was laid off and replaced by Stephanie Boynton as an addition to her current roles as the CEO of Erlanger Bledsoe Hospital and Sequatchie Valley, which are both in Tennessee.
“We’re so grateful to the CCG Foundation for this donation,” said EWCH Vice President and CEO Stephanie Boynton. “Funds like these help us further our mission of compassionately caring for people. Both our staff and patients will benefit from the items we are able to purchase due to the generosity and kindness of the communities we serve.”
At the end of 2019, the hospital closed its labor and delivery unit as well as all OBGYN services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital had to lay off and furlough workers. But since April, it has also hired five new doctors spanning across specialties: Dr. Stephen Rubendall, primary care doctors Terry Fokakis, Stacie Gilmore and Jillian Irwin and general orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Dale Ingram.
Cherokee County, where EWCH is based, has reported 15 COVID-19 related deaths at this time.