Harrington launches $8.8M matching campaign for new ER

Every seat was filled and there was standing room only at the launch of the matching fundraising campaign for a new Emergency Department at the Hubbard campus. CEO Ed Moore addresses the group of residents, hospital employees, and federal, state, and local officials.

From left, Harrington’s CEO Ed Moore, Diane Hanley, John Hanley, Representative Richard E. Neal, State Senator Richard T. Moore, and in front, Zachary Urbanowski, at Harrington HealthCare System’s announcement last week. More photos follow.

Webster - Promising it will be a state of the art, 21st century facility, Harrington Healthcare System on Friday officially launched a fundraising campaign to rebuild the Emergency Department at its Hubbard campus in Webster.

Harrington CEO Edward H. Moore announced that Harrington has a $4 million anonymous challenge match from a local donor.  The campaign has already received $434,500 in donations and pledges from individuals and businesses and five financial institutions –Webster Five Foundation, Savers Bank, Southbridge Savings Bank, Hometown Bank, and a grant from TD Bank.  Combined with the anonymous match, the total amount pledged comes to $869,000.

Addressing a standing room only assembly of local, state, and federal officials, Harrington employees, and residents at the Hubbard site on Thompson Road,  Mr. Moore described the current Emergency Room as “five stretchers and four curtains,” a cramped space with no privacy, and without even a bathroom.  The room is just 430 square feet, yet serves more than 12,000 patients a year.

Despite its 50’s appearance, Mr. Moore said the department staff is top-notch. Every doctor is board certified in Emergency Medicine and the nursing staff is certified in Emergency Nursing, which is not the case at many community hospitals, he noted.

“Since 1929, this site has been the focal point of healthcare for individuals, institutions and businesses in Webster, Dudley, Douglas, Oxford, Thompson and surrounding communities. Meeting our campaign goals will ensure that those who live and work in this region will continue to receive state-of-the art healthcare, close to home, for many years to come.”

Congressman Richard E. Neal, in a political aside, talked about the realities of healthcare today and its costs. If it weren’t for Medicare, he said, any one of us who has aging parents and college-age kids, “you could never hope to pay for those kids to go to college if you had to pay for your parent’s medical expenses.”

He also talked about people who take advantage of emergency rooms. We subsidize those who come “out of Ed Moore’s door and suggest they beat the system. They didn’t.”  That “free service” adds $1000 to the cost of each person’s private insurance plan, he said.

State Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge) talked about the importance of the Hubbard facility to local communities. “Worcester is closer than it used to be, but it’s not close enough when you have an emergency,” he said.  He hoped a lot of people would contribute a few dollars to the fundraising campaign, and it will produce “a pot of gold.”

Terri Colognesi, Chairman of the Board of Harrington HealthCare System said, “This Emergency Department has always been an essential piece of the Webster community. The opportunity to expand and renovate the ER into a bright, modern ER facility with board-certified docs is one that is a winning proposal for Webster and its surrounding communities. It is a commitment by Harrington HealthCare for total local care in South Central Worcester County, and only means good things for the area’s citizens, schools, and employers.”

The planned reconstruction of the Emergency Department includes nine treatment rooms, as well as trauma, cardiac and negative pressure rooms, all in a 10,000 sq. ft. space. It will include all new state-of-the art equipment, a private family waiting room, and three separate areas for psychiatric emergency services.

John Zychowics, at DiGiorgio Associates Inc, architects for the project, said that the rooms are flexible. They are designed for multiple purposes, depending on the needs at any given time.

The new facility will also have a rebuilt entrance and enhanced ambulance entrance and a new main entrance and lobby.

Mr. Moore said he anticipates that fundraising will be concluded by the end of 2012, with construction to begin immediately thereafter.

Terri Colognesi, Chairman of the Board
of Harrington HealthCare System

Charles Wheeler

Artist’s rendering of the new main entrance
to the Hubbard Emergency room.