Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Establishes Healthcare Heroes Fund For COVID-19

As all eyes turn to the healthcare heroes and hospitals across our nation, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has been working diligently on our behalf. It’s been a 24/7 effort to stay ahead of the game, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Chief Development Officer Steve Bernstein told us. He’s proud of their work and the community support. But, donations remain crucial, so they established the Healthcare Heroes Fund for COVID-19.

“Our lives are upside down and we’re all in this together trying to do the best we can,” Bernstein told Hamptons.com. “In the scheme of things, I’m proud to say our hospital has performed very well. Our healthcare team of physicians, doctors, nurses, administrators, staff – everyone – have risen to this challenge. And at the moment, our hospital is under control: giving healthcare providers personal protection equipment and patients the best possible care.”

“But, like every other hospital, we are spending dollars that we don’t have. These are unprecedented, turbulent times. We have to do what we need to do for our community. We’ll figure out how to pay for it later,” he noted. “Fortunately, we have a very caring, giving and generous community that’s come forward with financial contributions and supplies. And we could not be more grateful.”

“We’ve done an extraordinary job of preparing for what we know is going to be a surge,” Bernstein relayed. “We’re complying with the Governor’s call to double our bed size. We’ve tripled the capacity of our ICU.”

“I can’t acknowledge and thank enough, CAO Bob Chaloner, Doctors Fredric Weinbaum and Darin Wiggins and our entire nursing staff,” he expressed. “It’s an incredible coming together in a very difficult and challenging time, but we’ve done it seamlessly without any kind of angst. People are working hard and diligently to make certain we are prepared.”

The community is also stepping up. Southampton Inn owner and longtime hospital supporter Dede Gotthelf Moan has given 50 rooms to be used by the Cancer Center, to be used by nurses and respiratory therapists. “We’re not doing elective surgery and had to radically change our visitation policy,” Bernstein continued. “But we are continuing to provide care to the community. In ways not related to Covid 19, it’s business as usual.”

“So far the Healthcare Heroes Fund has generated more than $275,000,” Bernstein continued. “Dr. Peter Michalos, Chair of the Hamptons Health Society, raised significant money and got five ventilators to the hospital. Beyond financial contributions, our community continues to come forward with donations of K95 masks, isolation gowns, face shields and gloves. We’re asking them to do it safely. Drop things off on our loading dock, on Old Town Road, addressed to Mike Cronin, Director, Materials Management. Local restaurants and others have donated food for staff, through our Director of Nutritional Services, Shannon Cressy, who set up a program called Meal Train.”

To donate, go to: southampton.stonybrookmedicine.edu

or, mail a check made payable to Southampton Hospital Foundation to:

Southampton Hospital Foundation
240 Meeting House Lane
Southampton, NY 11968