Foundation funds fuel transition
With the scheduled move of University Medical Center’s acute services to Community Regional Medical Center about three months away, steps toward the transition are increasingly visible.
In a note to Community employees Jan. 9, CEO Tim Joslin complimented transition teams for staying on schedule for the mid-April move. Specifically, he mentioned progress on several key projects:
- The Department of Health Services approved operation of a new, “64-slice” CT scanner on the third floor of the Critical Care Building, and two digital radiography rooms on the first-floor emergency department.
- Construction is underway on a new medical lab adjacent to the Critical Care Building, with completion expected by year’s end.
- The hospital’s new, enlarged central pharmacy on the basement level of the 10-story building will be operational in about two weeks.
- Construction is underway for teaching rooms, sleep rooms and other facilities to accommodate the University of California medical residents who will move from UMC to CRMC.
- Patient monitoring equipment is being installed in 22 new intensive-care rooms on the fourth floor of the Critical Care Building. In February, ICU patients from the adjacent 10-story hospital tower will be moved to those new rooms.
The cost for these projects is about $20 million, and Joslin credited the Community Medical Foundation for contributing most of the money.
“We started with a foundation account of $3.4 million in 2000. With additional donations and investment performance that averaged 10 percent a year, it grew to more than $18 million. So we’ve utilized about $13 million of that to get these critical transition projects rolling,” Joslin said. “We thank the many donors, fund-raising volunteers and foundation board members who made this possible.”
This $13 million in funding augments the Foundation’s two-year capital campaign that began in 2000 and was co-chaired by James and Coke Hallowell.
Gordie Webster, chairman of the foundation’s board, said, “It’s great to see our donors’ investment being put to such an important and tangible use. We’re paving the way for the formation of a truly regional medical center where academic and private-practice physicians will work side-by-side. Our donors should be very proud to hear how their contributions grew and ultimately contributed to this transition.”
All acute-care services at UMC – including the Level 1 trauma and burn centers and surgery – will move to their permanent home at the Regional Medical Center, two blocks from Fresno City Hall.
This story was reported by Michelle Van Valkenburg. She can be reached a mvanvalkenburg@communitymedical.org.