Published May 2002

Health-care, business communities join
with community at large to finance facility

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Almost four years ago, Providence Everett Medical Center announced it would create a center focused on women and children’s health care. Today, the Pavilion for Women and Children stands on the hospital’s Pacific Campus — a five-story glass-and-brick structure filled with the latest in medical technology and know-how.

Getting from Point “A” to Point “B” has taken time. It has taken the expertise of architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors. It has taken the coordination of health-care providers in the city, the county and the region. And it has taken money — between $56 million and $57 million when all is said and done.

That money is coming from several sources, said Dave Bare, Chief Financial Officer for PEMC, including:

• $35 million in long-term debt from the issuance of bonds.
• $6.6 million from the Providence General Foundation.
• $7.3 million from PEMC reserves and operating income.
• Additional funding from Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center as part of a comprehensive relationship that also includes program expertise and collaboration.

“This is definitely one of the largest (projects PEMC) has ever undertaken,” Bare said. And it’s one of the largest Providence General Foundation has ever undertaken, too, Executive Director Dottie Piasecki said.

The foundation’s capital campaign, titled “Sharing the Vision,” began its quiet phase — seeking gifts and pledges from foundations, associations, and community and business leaders — in 2000. In September, the campaign launched its public phase, reaching out to the community at large.

So far, the foundation has raised $5.5 million in gifts and pledges, including more than $600,000 from the PEMC and foundation boards, $500,000 from the Providence General Children’s Association, $500,000 from the Elizabeth Foundation, $250,000 from John and Idamae Schack and $200,000 from the EverTrust Foundation.

Along with the $6.6 million for the Pavilion’s construction, the foundation is raising an additional $1 million to go toward an endowment for the Comprehensive Breast Center, Piasecki said.

The endowment, the Bonnie Miller Ronan Endowment for the Comprehensive Breast Center, was started thanks to a major contribution from Pat and Beverly Miller, who wanted to honor their daughter, Bonnie, who is a breast-cancer survivor and a registered nurse in the Special Care Nursery at PEMC.

The community “has been very responsive” to the fund-raising efforts, Piasecki said

“We’re hoping that we can complete the campaign by July, but if we don’t, we’ll continue until the total amount is raised.”

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