A local foundation awarded another grant to Griffin Hospital, bringing the total amount of its grants to the hospital to $1.7 million since 2006.
The Hewitt Foundation’s latest grant, $600,000 in three $200,000 annual installments, will provide nearly half of the $1.3 million cost of Griffin’s new radiology suite.
It will allow the hospital to treat a wide variety of medical disorders, such as blocked arteries in the limbs and bleeding in the brain, without having to send patients to other medical facilities for diagnostic radiological imagery.
The Hewitt Foundation was formed and funded after the sale of three Shelton nursing homes.
Hewitt Foundation President Patrick Carey said the foundation board is pleased with how its financial contributions to the hospital have yielded tangible benefits for the Valley.
“Our foundation is sold on Griffin Hospital, because you can see the results,” said Carey, a Shelton real estate broker.
He said the foundation has also supported other programs in the Lower Naugatuck Valley, such as T.E.A.M.’s Meals On Wheels program.
But “our largest commitment has absolutely been to Griffin,” he said.
Much of past support went for the development of Griffin Hospital’s Center for Cancer Care, including its Hewitt Breast Wellness unit, which the hospital named for the foundation.
The Center for Cancer Care, located at 350 Seymour Avenue, Derby, is part of a network of nine Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Centers in New Haven, Fairfield and Litchfield counties.
The foundation’s funding is from the proceeds from the sale of the Hewitt Corporation and its three convalescent homes, Hewitt, Shelton Lakes and Gardner Heights, in 2004.
After the sale, Carey and other members of the foundation’s Board of Directors stayed on to manage the philanthropic organization.
Carey said the sale provided over $6 million to the foundation. So far it has given away about $2.5 million, including the $1.7 million to Griffin Hospital.
That began with a five-year, $750,000 grant in 2006 for the initial development of the Center for Cancer Care.
Other grants include $250,000 three years ago for the breast cancer diagnosis and treatment center, and another $132,000 grant the following year for state-of-the-art mammography machines.
Carey said that before building the Breast Wellness Center, the hospital performed 4,000 to 5,000 mammograms a year, but now it performs over 10,000 annually.
“We feel like we’re giving to a great cause,” Carey said.
Griffin Hospital President Patrick Charmel said health experts have known for years that the Valley breast cancer mortality rate was above the state average.
He said one reason suspected for that was that many women neglected to get mammograms, so many breast cancers were only discovered in late stages when survivability rates are lower.
Charmel said preliminary data has shown that since the cancer center opened in 2008, the breast cancer mortality rate has declined nearly to the state average. He attributed much of that success to the Hewitt Foundation’s financial help.
“The foundation made an investment and they can actually see tangible results,” Charmel said.
Of course, that wasn’t the only factor.
Griffin Hospital and affiliated partner organizations also stepped up outreach efforts to get more women to get timely mammograms, and fundraising for the Valley Breast Cancer Fund that pays for mammograms for women who don’t have insurance or the money pay for them themselves.
Charmel said to build on the success of bringing down the breast cancer mortality rate, the hospital has launched new health screening initiatives for colorectal and lung cancer.
The two-year-old Health Initiative for Men (HIM) aims at increasing cancer screening rates for men by appealing to them through their children. School-age children were distributed printed inserts to stick in their Father’s Day cards to their dads reminding them to get regular cancer checkups.
“Men tend not to get their screening exams because they think they’re invincible and they’re going to live forever,” Charmel said.
The lung cancer screening employs low-dose CT scans that are effective for diagnosing lung cancer early and are safer because they expose patients with less radiation than traditional scans, he said.
