Supporting Neighbors in Need; Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Seeks Support for its Community and D-H Employee Relief Funds
Vermont Business Magazine In an initiative launched on Saturday, March 21, 2020, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) is raising funds to support social service organizations responding to the increasingly urgent needs across the Upper Valley spanning both New Hampshire and Vermont as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its first 24 hours, the appeal for the DH-H COVID-19 Community Relief Fund and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) employee-focused HOPE (Helping Our People in Emergencies) Fund raised a total of $217,965 from more than 140 donors.
D-HH has already committed $80,000 to three community coalitions of non-profit service organizations; Upper Valley Strong, Sullivan County COVID-19 Response, and Mt. Ascutney Community COVID-19 Response, to help ensure that the region’s social safety net is strong and able to respond to the hardships community members are experiencing.
The D-HH COVID-19 Community Relief Fund will provide financial assistance across the D-HH service region to organizations working to support those who are suffering from the economic, social, and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to the generosity of the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, gifts of up to $1,000 will be matched dollar for dollar for a limited time. The COVID-19 Community Relief Fund will be managed by a coalition of the region’s social service providers, which will have the flexibility to direct resources to the areas of greatest need.
“Our Dartmouth-Hitchcock population health staff are currently serving on multi-agency community work teams to assess and respond to key community needs, such as child care, food and older adult needs, and working with emergency medical service providers regionally to coordinate an integrated community response,” said Sally Kraft, MD, MPH, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Vice President of Population Health.
The D-H HOPE Fund, established in November 2018, provides emergency assistance to D-H employees experiencing financial crises due to unforeseen situations such as family emergencies, illness, spousal job loss and natural disasters, has now broadened to include the hardships some employees are facing due to COVID-19.
“In these unprecedented times, our health care workers and staff across D-H are rising to the greatest health care challenge we have faced, while at the same time many of them are now facing difficult personal circumstances,” said Matthew Haag, D-H Vice President of Development & Alumni Relations. “Our HOPE Fund provides urgently needed help to caregivers we rely on to care for our patients and the community.”
100% of these funds raised by D-HH for the Community Relief Fund will go to support community organizations. D-H’s HOPE Fund will support families now in need. Neither D-H or D-HH will deduct any administrative costs it incurs.
For questions, contact: Matt Haag, Vice President for Development & Alumni Relations, at 585-410-1693.
About Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH), New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves a population of 1.9 million across northern New England. D-HH provides access to more than 2400 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. DHMC was named in 2019 as the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and recognized for high performance in 13 clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth-Hitchcock also includes the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center, one of only 51 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation; the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the state’s only children’s hospital; affiliated member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, and New London, NH, and Windsor, VT, and Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services across New Hampshire and Vermont. The D-HH system trains nearly 400 residents and fellows annually, and performs world-class research, in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT.
Source: Lebanon, NH – DHH. 3.23.2020