2019 Year in Review

2019 was an extraordinary and historic year at Hamot Health Foundation.

We are thankful for our partners and donors who came alongside us throughout the year to accomplish great things!

The mission of Hamot Health Foundation is to advance health care initiatives and meet the critical needs of UPMC Hamot and the community. Every project we touch at HHF is an expression of this mission, which is structured by four constant and essential guideposts. We call them our Four Cs.

• Continuing Education
• Community Health
• Cutting-Edge Research
• Centers of Excellence

Here is a recap of selected highlights from 2019. Let’s savor them together. After all, thanks to your support and partnership, our wins are really your wins!

Continuing Education

In April, our annual Hamot Strong event raised $175,000 to benefit hundreds of UPMC Hamot employees striving to achieve higher education in the health care arena.

HHF also announced an industrious goal of raising $1.2 million in scholarship provisions for UPMC Hamot employees over the next three years. Investment in the continuing education of employees always comes back to the organization in the form of positive outcomes in patient care and employee retention.

HHF wishes to thank the UPMC Hamot Aid Society who has long prioritized employee scholarship money within their mission and is a recognized leader in this form of fundraising.

Community Health

Research reveals a link between poor health and poverty. As a result, HHF seeks to understand the social determinants of health in our community. We participated in backing for Count Me In, a community health census in which survey takers canvassed local neighborhoods identified as the most blighted and unhealthy. The collected data is driving pathways to better health and out of poverty.

The month of May saw HHF award $201,000 to 11 community nonprofits through its Community Promise grant program. These grants are being used by local agencies to fund health and self-sufficiency programming.

In August, HHF stepped up to help Erie Center for Arts and Technology (ECAT) take on impoverished neighborhoods. ECAT is a community-based educational arts and career training program with emphasis on the arts. HHF presented $1 million to ECAT to be used for necessary facility renovations as well as to create an endowment fund for sustainability.

Cutting-Edge Research

Come September, the Erie community received incredible news at the announcement of the expansion of Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) to Erie. A prestigious Pittsburgh-based facility dedicated to research focused on the health of women and infants, MWRI is the largest of its kind in the nation.

Expansion to Erie is a $26 million project and the collective local upshot includes enhanced health care, positive economic ripples, expanded academic programs, and research discoveries of global import. HHF is a leading partner in the establishment of MWRI in Erie and has committed $5 million to the plan.

In 2019, HHF also supported important research examining the study of speech production in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Data was collected during deep brain stimulation procedures conducted at UPMC Hamot, leading to medical publications in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Johns Hopkins University. Improved communication for Parkinson’s disease patients is the worthy goal of this research.

Centers of Excellence

UPMC Hamot is committed to excellence in our service lines and HHF is equally committed in meeting this imperative.

At the UPMC Women’s Recovery Center (WRC), HHF is in its second year of providing critical funding. WRC partners with Safe Harbor Behavioral Health of UPMC Hamot to provide services for pregnant women struggling with substance use concerns. The WRC program involves case management, peer support, and medication-assisted treatment. In June, the work at WRC was complemented by a $200,000 federal grant awarded to HHF to be used for opioid response planning.

Also in 2019, UPMC opened the Child Abuse Referral Evaluation Clinic (CARE Clinic) with a three-year pledge of funding from HHF. The purpose of the clinic is to act as a referral center for children and adolescents with abuse or neglect issues. These tender and vulnerable young patients are able to attend a convenient and local clinic for expert treatment at UPMC Hamot. Until now, access to a care clinic had required travel to Pittsburgh.

In yet another center of excellence, HHF has sponsored multiple cardiac projects this year, including enhancements to community cardiac defibrillators, cath lab ultrasound equipment, and cardiac rehabilitation center equipment.

This is just a sampling of the exciting happenings at Hamot Health Foundation in 2019.

From the Annual Gala to the founding of the Hillman Cancer Fund, there is much, much more. Throw in a brand-new, progressive logo and call it a year. A great year!

If our stories and our mission speak to you, please consider an end-of-year donation to Hamot Health Foundation. We promise to put your gift to hard work through creative and careful means. We know you expect results. And you should. Thank you for your support, trust, and generosity.

Glad tidings to you from all of us at Hamot Health Foundation!