Ascension St. Michael’s Celebrates Groundbreaking for New Breast Care Center
For the Metro Wire
Benefactors of the Saint Michael’s Foundation, together with physicians, nurses, breast cancer survivors, and friends gathered in a “pink” atmosphere on Monday, December 4 at Ascension St. Michael’s Hospital for the Ceremonial Groundbreaking of the new Breast Care Center.
Though no shovels were needed for this groundbreaking, this group gathered to celebrate the success of the Hope Is Building Campaign in raising $3,300,000 for the new Breast Care Center.
“This new Breast Care Center is patient-centric, less confusing and more efficient in one location where women and their families can receive the entire gamut of their breast health care,” said Christopher Swiecki, M.D., Ascension Medical Group Surgeon in Stevens Point. “This state-of-the-art facility will expand services in one centralized location on the first floor of Ascension St. Michael’s.”
The groundbreaking program, attended by nearly 100 participants, was a chance to recognize the generosity of donors who have invested in the future health and well-being of our community through their support of the Hope is Building Campaign.
Campaign co-chairs, Kim and Steve Hodgson, Cindy and Joe Kinsella, along with their families, experienced breast cancer long before the idea of the Hope is Building Campaign begun.
“Our journey started when our wives were diagnosed with breast cancer, and we want every woman who is diagnosed with cancer to have a positive experience from treatment to remission,” said Steve Hodgson.
Cindy Kinsella, a breast cancer survivor, added, “Women don’t have to hope for things to be better, they will be as the result of the generosity of this community.”
The goal of the enhanced Breast Care Center is to create a physical environment that feels warm and welcoming. Its design is the physical embodiment of Ascension St. Michael’s philosophy of care by reorganizing departments and facilities to literally put the patient at the center.
The new Breast Care Center at Ascension St. Michael’s will include state of the art equipment including 3D mammography/tomosynthesis, stereotactic biopsy capabilities, ultrasound and ultrasound guided biopsy capabilities. It will also provide designate space for a Boutique, staffed by licensed nurse navigators who can fit prosthetics, bras, swimsuits, and wigs. The Boutique will serve more than just breast cancer patients as a community resource for all patients at the hospital and the community.
Beyond building this new facility, the Hope is Building campaign’s mission also strives to build a culture of prevention and early detection. Hoping to break the barriers of one in eight women being affected by breast cancer, and to serve the poor and vulnerable, a significant portion of the campaign dollars will benefit the Angel Fund of Saint Michael’s Foundation in perpetuity. This fund provides financial assistance for those who cannot afford their mammogram, so that no woman in the community will ever have to wonder if she has breast cancer.
The goal for the Hope is Building Campaign is to raise $4 million in support of the Breast Care Center and the Angel Fund. Saint Michael’s Foundation will continue to raise funds to meet this goal with the help of community friends and neighbors with 100 percent of the funds staying local to support efforts to treat breast patients in the community.
For additional information about the Hope is Building Campaign, please contact Saint Michael’s Foundation at 715.343.3259.
About Saint Michael’s Foundation:
Saint Michael’s Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Ascension St. Michael’s Hospital and Ascension Medical Group in Stevens Point. The Foundation’s mission is to develop, manage and grant charitable support to meet the health care needs of our community.
Through generous donors and responsible stewardship, the growth of Saint Michael’s Foundation in the past 27 years has provided over $3 million to support Ascension St. Michael’s Hospital’s tradition of serving others, fulfilling health-related needs, and strengthening lives in our community.
About Ascension Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, Ascension (ascension.org/wisconsin) operates 23 hospitals and hundreds of related healthcare facilities that together employ more than 19,600 associates. Across the state, Ascension provided more than $295 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2017. Serving Wisconsin for 169 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, operating 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Visit ascension.org/wisconsin.
About Ascension
Ascension (ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. In FY2016, Ascension provided more than $1.8 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 150,000 associates and 36,000 aligned providers. Ascension’s Healthcare Division operates 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia, while its Solutions Division provides a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, investment management, biomedical engineering, facilities management, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension’s own group purchasing organization.