Swedish’s Annual Gala Dinner Auction Raises More than $2.2 million for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Expansion Project, Charity Care
SEATTLE, May 12, 2010 – More than 900 people attended Swedish’s annual gala dinner auction, Celebrate Swedish, the evening of May 8 at The Sheraton Seattle Hotel and helped raise approximately $2.2 million – $1.2 million of which will be used to help the non-profit health provider fund an expansion of its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Swedish/First Hill. The fund-raising celebration also honored the medical center’s 100th anniversary and was made even more special with the attendance of Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, and fellow Swede, Freddie Ljungberg of the Seattle Sounders FC.
In support of Swedish’s mission to improve the health and well-being of each person it serves – regardless of their ability to pay – $1 million was raised at this year’s auction, which benefits charity-care services and other programs that help Swedish respond to community needs. In 2009, Swedish provided nearly $24 million in charity-care services to people who would otherwise not have been able to afford needed services.
“We feel really thankful for all our donors and are grateful for the support we received this year,” said Swedish CEO Dr. Rod Hochman. “We continue to strive to meet the growing needs in our community. Thanks to these very generous gifts, Swedish will continue to play an important community resource role in ensuring that the children born in our region are provided access to some of the best intensive care services in the country.”
Top among many generous donations made that night were leadership gifts from Wells Fargo, Pediatrix and Obstetrix Medical Group, Eastside Emergency Physicians, John and Sally Nordstrom, Mark and Sarah Everitt, Drs. Greg and Luba Foltz, Dr. Rod and Nancy Hochman, and the Swedish/First Hill Auxiliary.
Honorary chairs for this year’s 25th-annual fund-raising celebration were John and Sally Nordstrom, who were recognized for their longtime support of the medical center. John Nordstrom’s maternal grandfather was the original founder of Swedish, Dr. Nils Johanson.
The NICU expansion project, which will increase Swedish/First Hill’s capacity for treating seriously ill and premature infants from 61 to 76 beds, is expected to increase NICU capacity space by 10,735 square feet. The current NICU space is 21,485 square feet and includes state-of-the-art technology, the highest type (Level III) NICU care, and an Infant Special Care (Level II) Unit. Construction is scheduled for completion in late August 2010.
Swedish’s Annual Gala Dinner Auction Raises More than $2.2 million
Established in 1910, Swedish has grown to become the largest, most comprehensive non-profit health-care provider in the Greater Seattle area over the last 100 years. It is comprised of three hospital campuses – First Hill, Cherry Hill and Ballard – a freestanding emergency department and ambulatory care center in Issaquah, Swedish Visiting Nurse Services, and the Swedish Physician Division – a network of more than 40 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Puget Sound area. This year, Swedish broke ground on a new medical office building and hospital in the Issaquah Highlands (www.swedishissaquah.org), a freestanding emergency department and ambulatory care center in Redmond, as well as a medical office building and ambulatory care center in Ballard. In addition to general medical and surgical care, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit www.swedish.org and www.swedish100.org.