Bridgeport Hospital Launching New Burn Center Campaign

Connecticut Legislators and Trumbull Business Education Initiative: The Trumbull BEI will host a morning with state Reps. T.R. Rowe and Tony Hwang and State Sen. Anthony Musto Nov. 29 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The topic will be upcoming curriculum requirements and its impact on local schools.

This free event will take place in the Trumbull Town Council Chambers. Community businesspeople, educators and interested residents are invited.

Burn Center launches renovation campaign: To underscore its unique role as a statewide resource, Connecticut’s only burn center has a new name—The Connecticut Burn Center—and has launched a $1.5 million renovation campaign aimed at upgrading its surroundings at Bridgeport Hospital for patients, their families and staff. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2012, according to a Bridgeport Hospital press release.

“We want to move into the 21^st century to provide a more private, comfortable, very functional environment for our patients and their families,” says Dr. John Schulz, the Burn Center’s Medical Director. 

According to the press release, the Burn Center was established in 1973 with fundraising help led by then Chairman of Surgery Andrew Panettieri and his wife Henrietta. The Panettieris’ efforts were motivated by a chemical plant explosion in Stratford that injured several workers. At the time, the Center was one of only 10 dedicated burn care facilities in the United States. Even today, there are fewer than 60.

The Burn Center’s last major renovation took place in the 1999, when improvements were made to its critical care wing. The new renovation project will focus on the Burn Center’s sub-acute wing and, at the recommendation of many Connecticut firefighters, will include the addition of an overnight hospitality suite for families of patients.

In addition, patient rooms in the wing will be redesigned for greater privacy and comfort, the Center’s rehabilitation room and specially equipped shower room will be renovated and the nursing station will be enlarged to provide more space for staff to perform their duties.

 “The overnight suite will provide a comfortable place for family members of patients to stay at the hospital,” says Burn Center Nurse Manager Jacqueline Laird. “We have critically burned patients whose families are here with them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

“To have your family with you means everything,” says retired pilot Paul Hagopian, who was a Burn Center patient after he was critically burned in a 1994 plane crash. “A family suite would be wonderful.” 

Hagopian is one of the Burn Center patients featured in a video produced to promote the fundraising campaign. The video was suggested by Steve Lupinacci, President of the Stratford Professional Firefighters Burn Foundation, to reach key Burn Center supporters in the firefighting community. It is available on You Tube or via a link on the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation website, http://foundation.bridgeporthospital.org. The video also includes comments by the Burn Center staff and Connecticut firefighters who have been active in providing financial support to the Center through a variety of initiatives.          

U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman appears in the video and calls the Burn Center “an extraordinary, world class facility that provides critical medical services to people in Connecticut and beyond.”

For more information about the Burn Center campaign, call the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation at 203-384-3522 or visit the Foundation website.

St. Vincent's Medical Center Honored, will also hold Holiday Support Group: A presentation on “Coping with the Holidays After A Loss,” will be held Dec. 6 from 2 to 3pm in  the Medical Oncology Conference Room on Level 3 of the Elizabeth Pfriem SWIM Center for Cancer Care adjacent to St. Vincent’s Medical Center (the conference room is just off the elevator to the right).

According to a press release, the informational session, sponsored by St. Vincent’s Pastoral Care Department, and geared to individuals who are grieving the loss of a loved one, will be facilitated by Director of Pastoral Care Deacon Paul Jennings and hospital chaplain Deacon Jose Mestre.

“People coping with loss feel especially vulnerable and alone during the holiday season with its expectations of celebration and good cheer,” said Jennings. “Our session seeks to offer resources, support and some helpful guidelines to help them navigate an emotional passage through this difficult time, and encourage the process of healing and growth.”

Registration is limited. Free parking is available in the garage immediately in front of the Medical Center front entrance with a validated ticket.

Please call the Pastoral Care Department at 203-576-5110 to register or for more information.

Meanwhile, HealthGrades named the hospital among the top 10 percent in the United States for coronary interventional procedures in 2012.

The hospital has also received:

• HealthGrades Coronary Intervention Excellence Award™ in 2012
• Five-Star Rated for Coronary Interventional Procedures in 2012
• Five-Star Rated for Treatment of Heart Attack for 10 Years in a Row (2003-2012)