June 2020
A FOUNDATION OF SUPPORT IN THE TIME OF COVID
October 4,
1918
NEEDED NURSES FIGHT P L E H O T C EPIDEMI
October 5, 1918
TWELVE “DON’TS” TO OBSERVE TO KEEP DISEASE AWAY
A Century Apart, Health Crisis Eerily Similar For Our Community A little more than a century after a global influenza epidemic cut a deadly path across Western Pennsylvania, the headlines are nearly identical – school, church and business closings, social distancing and universal disruption of the routine. Then, as now, our community hospitals based in Greensburg, Latrobe and Mount Pleasant were on the front lines frantically fighting a relentless battle in late 1918 and early 1919. Healthcare workers were the backbone of the county response in those hospitals each just a few years old having been founded by community leaders with a shared vision of community need. Thanks to advances in the understanding of medicine and disease transmission, those same hospitals – modernized by community support throughout the past 100 years – were equipped with the latest advances in facilities, equipment and technology to meet the current health crisis.
A Timely Gift To Pandemic Response The Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation’s $200,000 emergency grant helped to secure personal protective equipment and expand capabilities to provide appropriate isolation for those patients who require negative air pressure rooms for safe treatment. Donor recognition begins on Page 2.
With deepest gratitude … It is with profound appreciation that we share this special newsletter with you in recognition of the overwhelming community support given to our respective foundations on behalf of Excela Health during the COVID-19 public health crisis. While Westmoreland County has not been impacted as deeply by this novel coronavirus as other areas of the country and the globe, preparations for the unknown were tantamount to success. Al Novak Chief Development Officer
Ray Charley Dr. Thomas Gessner Foundation Board Chairmen
WESTMORELAND/FRICK HOSPITAL FOUNDATION