Alpena hospital receives $500,000 grant for new tower project

What’s happening: The MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena recently received a $500,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan to help with its new Patient Tower project, now under construction. Chuck Sherwin, president, MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, says the grant will be specifically used to assist with the new Patient Tower. “We have only accessed this funding source for extremely significant projects and we feel that the Patient Tower Project is an excellent use of the fund,” Sherwin said.
 
What it is: The $63.5 million dollar Patient Tower is a three-story, 99,000 square-foot structure featuring 60 new private patient rooms, including eight intensive care unit beds, eight labor and delivery rooms, and 44 medical/surgical/telemetry beds. The new tower will also include 19 prep and recovery rooms, flex rooms, as well as five new operating rooms. Once the tower is completed, many areas in the existing Medical Center will be renovated.
 
Formerly Alpena General Hospital, MyMichigan Medical Center is a 139-bed critical access hospital providing general medical and surgical care for inpatients and outpatients along with a 24-hour emergency room. The center is affiliated with Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan. 

MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena was recently recognized as a 2022 Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital by the Chartis Center for Rural Health.
 
How they’re doing it: This $500,000 disbursement came from the Alpena Regional Medical Center Endowment Fund. The Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan has held the endowment fund since 1990. Community philanthropists Lucas and Janet Pfeiffenberger established the fund to support the hospital. Over the years, the fund has grown through the efforts of the MyMichigan Health Foundation, individual donations and investment income. As a Designated Fund of community foundation, MyMichigan Health can use the funds for any purpose needed specifically for its Alpena campus. 
 
What they’re saying: “The community has been extremely supportive of this significant project,” said Ann Diamond, development director for MyMichigan Health Foundation in Alpena. “When we began this endeavor, we had set a goal of garnering community participation in the amount of $6 million. Thanks to CFNEM and the vision of Lucas and Janet Pfieffenberger, and many other extremely generous community members, we are closing in on that goal. We are very grateful for this Endowment Fund and, most importantly, to have CFNEM as one of our strongest supporters and partners.”
 
“This fund is a true testament to the power of endowment,” says CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty. “Since the Pfeiffenbergers established this fund, it now provided over $1.16 million for the facility’s needs, providing funds for the hyperbaric chambers at the hospital, funding to bring its Epic medical record software to the Alpena campus, and now to support the new patient tower. It also is a great example of how organizations can benefit from a designated fund set up on their behalf and can utilize those funds for the betterment of our whole community.” 
 
The new Patient Tower at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena is slated to open at the end of April.