Next year will mark 100 years of the founding of the Middletown hospital now known as Atrium Medical Center. The nonprofit Middletown Hospital Association started in 1913 and a 28-bed hospital opened in Middletown in 1917.
“When I think about all the lives our hospital has touched in the last 100 years — babies born, illnesses treated and emergencies tended — our hospital is woven tightly into the fabric of our community because our work is so personal,” said Carol Turner, president and chief executive officer of Atrium.
In addition to celebrating the hospital’s history, the gala also launched the foundation’s fundraising campaign for a new geriatric emergency unit within Atrium’s Emergency Trauma Center.
“Everybody has a parent. Everybody has an older sister or brother that at some point will use this wonderful gift that we all can give to the community,” said Joseph Bidwell, executive vice president of Magnode Corp. His wife, Carol Bidwell, is senior physician recruiter for Atrium.
“As the baby boomers are aging and developing complex health conditions, there is a need to provide more effective and efficient care,” said Marquita Turner, chief nursing officer of Atrium Medical Center.
Michael Stautberg, president of the foundation, said the hospital identified this service “as a need” in the community. In Butler and Warren counties, 81,711 residents, or 13.5 percent of the total population, are 65 or older, according to the latest census.
Stautberg said the foundation has set a goal to raise at least $500,000 by January for renovations to create an eight-bed, senior-friendly geriatric unit within the ER. The unit will feature soothing colors, reduced noise levels and safety features including non-skid floors and chairs and beds designed for older bodies, he said.
The ER has 48 patient rooms and saw 54,000 patient visits in 2015, hospital officials said.
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