3/22/22
Alpena – MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena recently received a $500,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) to help with its new Patient Tower project currently under construction. This disbursement came from the Alpena Regional Medical Center Endowment Fund.
CFNEM has held the Alpena Regional Medical Center Fund since 1990 when community philanthropists Lucas (a former CFNEM Executive Director) and Janet Pfeiffenberger established it for the specific purpose of supporting the hospital serving Alpena. The Pfieffenbergers created the Fund when the facility was still Alpena General Hospital, choosing CFNEM to house it to ensure a permanent source of funding for the Medical Center serving the healthcare needs of Alpena and its surrounding communities. Over the years the Fund has grown through the efforts of the MyMichigan Health Foundation, individual donations and investment income. As a Designated Fund of CFNEM, MyMichigan Health can use the funds for any purpose needed specifically for its Alpena campus.
Chuck Sherwin, president, MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, says the $500,000 grant from the Alpena Regional Medical Center Fund will be specifically used to assist with the new Patient Tower. According to Sherwin, “We have only accessed this funding source for extremely significant projects and we feel that the Patient Tower Project is an excellent use of the fund.”
The $63.5 million dollar Patient Tower is a three-story, 99,000 square-foot structure featuring 60 new private patient rooms, including eight intensive care unit beds, eight labor and delivery rooms, and 44 medical/surgical/telemetry beds. The new tower will also include 19 prep and recovery rooms, flex rooms, as well as five new operating rooms. Once complete, many areas in the existing Medical Center will be renovated.
“The community has been extremely supportive of this significant project,” said Ann Diamond, development director for MyMichigan Health Foundation in Alpena. “When we began this endeavor, we had set a goal of garnering community participation in the amount of $6 million. Thanks to CFNEM and the vision of Lucas and Janet Pfieffenberger, and many other extremely generous community members, we are closing in on that goal. We are very grateful for this Endowment Fund and, most importantly, to have CFNEM as one of our strongest supporters and partners.”
“This fund is a true testament to the power of endowment,” says CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty. “Since the Pfeiffenbergers established this fund, it now provided over $1.16 million for the facility’s needs, providing funds for the hyperbaric chambers at the hospital, funding to bring its Epic medical record software to the Alpena campus, and now to support the new patient tower. It also is a great example of how organizations can benefit from a designated fund set up on their behalf and can utilize those funds for the betterment of our whole community.”
Heraghty added that many organizations across northeast Michigan benefit from a designated fund established by an outside donor to support a nonprofit. Some of those include Besser Museum of Northeast Michigan, Huron Humane Society, St. Bernard’s Friendship Room, Boys and Girls Club of Alpena, and Hope Shores Alliance.
The new Patient Tower at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena is slated to open at the end of April 2022.
The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan is a charitable organization committed to providing people who care about the future of our area with unique and effective ways of supporting their community now, and for generations to come. Led by a volunteer board of local citizens, the foundation oversees a group of permanent endowment funds from a wide range of donors. Gifts of all sizes from individuals, families, businesses and agencies are invested in a balanced, well-managed portfolio to build endowments, enabling support for local community nonprofits now and forever. To donate or learn more about how community foundations work, visit cfnem.org or call 989-354-6881; toll-free: 877-354-6881.
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