No one wants to be in the hospital, yet when hospital care is needed for health, well-being, or recovery, the hospital setting should provide comfort. The FHN Foundation’s Year End Appeal is focused on just that: comfort, solace, and the in-patient experience. As you may remember last year, thanks to the generosity of many donors, the FHN Foundation purchased new bedframes and mattresses for the in-patient hospital rooms. Since this new equipment has been put into use, many patients have commented on how the new beds and mattresses have enhanced the quality of their hospital stay.
This year, we are continuing our focus on improving the in-patient hospital experience. To accomplish this, the FHN Foundation would like to purchase new recliner chairs, dressers, and tables. Our goal is to place these items in every in-patient room in the hospital as they each play a role in patient care and safety.
Many of our patients appreciate the comfort of a recliner. For some, it assists with their breathing, and for others it allows them to put their feet up. The recliners even allow patients to watch television in a similar fashion to home!
“Our surgical patients enjoy being in recliners because it gives them a comfortable place to sit when they are not in their beds. Also, their family members can enjoy them. We have had some family members take a nap or spend the night in them.”
Linn Carter, FHN Women’s Health Service Line Director
The recliners offer a safe alternative so that a patient can get out of the bed as part of their healing and recovery process.
“We encourage our patients to get up multiple times throughout the day while they are here in the hospital to improve their strength, mobility and circulation.”
Stacey Winter, FHN Nursing Operations Leader, Telemetry and ICU
The recliners we want to purchase will help ensure the ultimate comfort for patients and offer an option to lying in bed for meals and relaxation.
The new over-bed tables will provide a place for the patients to comfortably and conveniently eat their meals. These tables also allow easy access to, and offer additional storage for personal items, such as phones, glasses, and hygiene products.
The bedside table/dresser combination offers additional space for belongings, like clothing, personal care items, and other supplies. For some patients, having a dresser and table nearby allows easy access to personal needs - books to read, tissue paper, and even lip balm.
Coming off of a global pandemic, everyone in our community has a heightened awareness of the cleanliness required in patient care areas and for the equipment used to serve patients. FHN understands that it is crucial to utilize furniture that is more conducive to the disinfection process to ensure patient safety. Newer models of patient care amenities, including recliners, bedside tables, and bedside dressers, are now manufactured utilizing materials that are more durable and conducive to disinfection processes in this ever-changing world of communicable diseases and viruses.
The total cost to acquire these new items is $205,000. We have already received $66,000 toward this initiative and hope that you will join with us to fully fund it.
Please consider making a donation towards the acquisition of these items. Each gift will assist in purchasing new wall saver recliners, over-bed tables and bedside tables/dressers. The care and safety your kindness and generosity provides to a patient staying in the hospital may one day benefit yourself, a family member, friend, or loved one.
Please select the ‘Hospital Fund’ from the drop down menu.
Thank you for making a difference in the health and wellness of the people in northwestern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
Yours Truly,
Al Evon
Director, FHN Foundation
P.S. Remember, you may make your gift to FHN Foundation in honor of someone who is living and has impacted your life or in memorial to remember someone special. Additionally, all gifts postmarked by December 31, 2023, are eligible to be deducted from your income taxes.