HHF Donors Bring New Facility to Life
Personal Touches Abound in High-Tech Patient Care Environment
If you passed by UPMC Hamot on E. 3rd street in recent years, it would be difficult to miss the larger-than-life change underway. The demolition of the former UPMC Hamot Professional Building created a space soon filled with excavators, cement mixers, and cranes; steel beams rose skyward, followed by brick and glass.
The UPMC Hamot patient care tower, a pioneering facility developed to guarantee critical care excellence for nearly 1 million individuals in 13 counties, received its finishing touches in early 2021. As the largest capital investment in the history of UPMC Hamot, the tower is undeniably high-tech. Yet, it was the support of nearly 80 donors that gave the facility a powerful personal touch.
Beginning in 2020, Hamot Health Foundation offered exclusive dedication opportunities for spaces throughout the tower. These ranged from individual patient rooms to nursing stations and entire ICU wings. Today, the hallways reveal the specific spaces for which employees, community members, grateful patients, and other donors made contributions in the name of loved ones. Unique signage featuring memories, quotes, and treasured photos tell their individual stories.
On July 5, Hamot Health Foundation proudly dedicated a hallmark space in the new patient care tower — the Zurn Family Atrium.
Located on the facility’s first floor, this space provides a welcoming gateway for guests while celebrating generations of Zurn family support for UPMC Hamot. HHF President Boo Hagerty thanked members of the Zurn family who have served UPMC Hamot as trustees, volunteers, and benefactors for nearly 60 years. Hagerty shared, “We could never thank the Zurns enough for all they have done for UPMC Hamot. This is an incredible hospital, and it’s due in part to special people like the Zurn family.”
Former board chair and longtime corporator David M. Zurn spoke on behalf of the family. Dave expressed his deep appreciation for the exceptional care that UPMC Hamot has offered the Erie community for 140 years. Reflecting back upon his experiences as Hamot’s board chair, he described the power of philanthropy in his own moving words.
Each day, the new tower hums with energy as hundreds of employees bring life-changing medicine to critically ill patients. Whenever a team member, patient, or guest takes a quiet moment to study a donor’s dedication sign on behalf of a loved one, the community support that has always endured and strengthened UPMC Hamot is put on display. Hamot Health Foundation is grateful for all our donors and their endless generosity.
An extremely limited number of dedication opportunities are still available to donors. Please contact Nick Cianci with inquiries: ciancin@upmc.edu; (814) 877-2464.