Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, the flagship hospital of Montgomery County’s largest and longest-serving health-care system in Maryland, United States, has received a US$1 million gift from the Lee family of Potomac, United States. This substantial contribution will support the completion of a six-story patient tower under construction at the hospital. 

A family representative said the donation was an expression of deep gratitude for the exceptional care that a loved one experienced in Shady Grove Medical Center’s Emergency Department. “Thanks to the many skilled clinicians in the E.D., she was very quickly stabilized, diagnosed, and treated. Just as important, at every step in the process, she was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. Given the circumstances, her experience could not have been any better.”  

Modernizing the Emergency Department is a focus of Shady Grove Medical Center’s tower project. Emergency patients will receive treatment in more spacious private rooms, with walls replacing curtains for added privacy and infection control. The project increases the number of rooms for mental health emergencies. A newly designed observation unit will optimize how caregivers monitor emergency patients who may need admission to the hospital.

The Lee family of Potomac has a history of philanthropic giving, but this is their first and largest gift to an organization in the Washington, D.C., region. “My family welcomes the opportunity to give back to the community where we have thrived,” a family representative said. “By supporting construction of the patient tower, we are contributing to the health and well-being of county residents for years to come. We encourage others to do the same.”

Shady Grove Medical Center’s tower project will bring 150,352 square feet (about 13,970 square meters) of new care space and renovate another 25,696 square feet (about 2,390 square meters) to enhance patient safety, patient experience, and clinical efficiency.  In addition to Emergency Department upgrades, the project will create all-private medical/surgical inpatient rooms and the Ron and Joy Paul Family Intensive Care Unit with added room for today’s critical care practices and flexibility for future public health emergencies.

“The tower will help shape the future of health care in Maryland,” Daniel Cochran, president of Shady Grove Medical Center, said. “Its state-of-the-art spaces will enhance quality, safety, and efficiency for our patients and team members. We are so very appreciative of the Lee family of Potomac for their extraordinary generosity and for their willingness to share their story. Because of them, others in our community will be able to continue to access world-class care right in their own backyards.”

The hospital will acknowledge the Lee family’s commitment to community health in the tower’s first-floor entry corridor. Architects designed the space to maximize natural lighting and views of nature, which evidence has shown can enhance and speed healing. Natural materials and soft colors also serve to soothe patients and their loved ones as they pass through it.

“Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is building next-level care, right next door, to make sure everyone in our community can access the very best health care,” Cochran said. “The Lee family of Potomac is helping us realize that vision.”

Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is the largest hospital in the Adventist HealthCare system. Shady Grove’s services include emergency care; a Birth Center, NICU, and specialized children’s units; a freestanding cancer center; and nationally recognized surgery programs. Shady Grove is also Maryland’s second largest provider of mental health services. More than 2,500 team members carry out its mission, to extend God’s care through a ministry of physical, mental, and spiritual healing.

The original version of this story was posted on the Adventist HealthCare news site.