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Wake Forest Baptist Pledges Millions to Lexington Memorial Hospital
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When it comes to gifts, this is a big one.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem has pledged up to $5 million in matching donations through 2013 as a gift to the Lexington Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Money donated to the foundation can be spent in a variety of ways to benefit Lexington Memorial, including equipment, renovations, education and community wellness programs.
“The only limitation is that the money raised by the foundation is always for the benefit of the hospital,” says Ellen Welborn, president of the Lexington Memorial Hospital Foundation. “We will take suggestions from our hospital departments and then decide where the money is best spent.”
The generous contribution comes on the heels of Lexington Memorial and Wake Forest Baptist forming a partnership in October 2008. That partnership allows the 94-bed Lexington Memorial to have access to Wake Forest Baptist’s expansive network of medical resources, and allows Wake Forest Baptist to have a larger marketing presence in Davidson County.
Geographically, the two medical centers are about 20 miles apart.
Both hospitals have actually worked together in the past to provide some services – including cancer treatment and dialysis – to Davidson County patients. And even though their partnership is now official, Wake Forest administrators say that they want LMH to remain the same community hospital that it has always been in serving the needs of Davidson County.
“The goal is simply to strengthen Lexington Memorial through expanded services, updated facilities and more physicians so fewer patients will have to travel to out-of-town hospitals,” says Steve Robertson, chairman of Wake Forest Baptist. “Then when patients must be transferred to Wake Forest Baptist, they will have easy access. Lexington Memorial is an excellent strategic fit for us as we develop a regional health-care delivery network.”
LMH officials say that small community hospitals across the country are joining larger health-care systems, and Wake Forest Baptist is considered one of the top medical centers in North Carolina and beyond.
“We are excited to be connected to a world-renown academic medical center that is in the forefront of education, research and clinical services,” says Charles (Chuck) W. Taylor, chairman of Lexington Memorial Hospital. “Given the pressures facing community hospitals, our board believes that this is the best time to join with a large organization that shares our values for a bright future for healthcare in Lexington and Davidson County.”
The two hospitals have already announced that they will jointly operate the Cancer Center of Davidson County, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010.
Meanwhile, Lexington Memorial will continue to remain a nonprofit organization, with 800 employees and 120 physicians on its medical staff.
Story by Kevin Litwin
