Welcome to our Fall Issue 2024
Welcome to our Fall Issue 2024
Welcome to our Fall Issue!
| Insight features the impact of philanthropy on care provided by Bridgeport Hospital. |
Fall 2024 | Bridgeport Hospital’s Emergency Departments win Lantern Awards |
In this issue:Bridgeport Hospital’sEmergency Departments win Lantern award. Kmetzo Resource Center Celebrates 30 years of Patient and Family Support. The Norma Pfriem Breast Center’s Pink Pledge celebrates its 10th Anniversary Donors in Focus features “Battle of the Badges” to benefit the CT Burn Center |  Established in 2011, The Emergency Nurses Association’s Lantern Award recognizes excellence in Emergency Departments. This year, only 94 hospitals across the country received the honor for demonstrating exceptional performance in key areas. “The ENA Lantern Award honors our Bridgeport Emergency Departments that excel in leadership, clinical practice, education, community advocacy and research through outstanding and innovative performance,” said Mary Christoffersen, DNP, MBA, chief nursing officer for Bridgeport Hospital. Applicants had to demonstrate how their departments showed a commitment to care and their initiatives to improve nursing staff’s well-being. This is the first time Bridgeport Hospital has won the award. “I am extremely proud of both our Bridgeport and Milford Emergency Departments. This honor highlights the incredible hard work, dedication and perseverance of our staff to provide high-quality patient care to the communities we serve,” said April Alfano, RN, LP, director of Nursing, Emergency Services. Bridgeport Hospital President Anne Diamond said the award shines a light on the excellent care that the Bridgeport Hospital Emergency Departments provide to the community. “As the 35th busiest Emergency Department in the country, as noted by Beckers Hospital Review, this award demonstrates that high volume coupled with the management of complex trauma and burn is possible while maintaining exceptional quality,” said Diamond, DBA, JD. Last year donors gave over $250,000 to nursing education programs at Bridgeport Hospital to support nurses in leadership, clinical practice, education, and research. Click here to make a gift to Nursing Education at Bridgeport Hospital. |
| Insight: Bridgeport Hospital was recently recognized as an Academic Comprehensive Cancer Program and earned a three-year accreditation from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer. | Kmetzo Resource Center Celebrates 30 years of Patient and Family Support Photo – Lauren Thayer, Nurse Manager of the inpatient oncology unit at Bridgeport Hospital, James Kmetzo, and Esther Kmetzo at the Dr. Richard W. Kmetzo Resource Center For the past thirty years, the Dr. Richard W. Kmetzo Cancer Resource Center has provided information and support for our oncology patients receiving lifesaving care at Bridgeport Hospital. The Resource Center has been funded by Esther Kmetzo and her family in memory of her son, Dr. Richard W. Kmetzo, who lost his battle to the disease in 1994. This year, the Kmetzo Resource Center has expanded its services to provide Hope Bags to patients. The bags are filled with items such as nourishment, lip balm, cozy knit hats and socks, crossword puzzles and other small gifts to bring comfort and support during treatment and healing. Click here to make a gift to the Kmetzo Resource Center at Bridgeport Hospital. |
| Insight: Communities taking the Pink Pledge are located all over the country, not just in Fairfield County! | 10th Anniversary of Pink Pledge  M&T Bank returned as lead sponsor for the Norma Pfriem Breast Center’s 10th anniversary Pink Pledge! Pink Pledge is a month long, community wide, awareness and fundraising campaign held every October to benefit the Breast Center. Funds raised enable the Breast Center to continue to provide excellent and compassionate medical care to ALL women, regardless of their ability to pay. Dozens of our community’s merchants, restaurants, businesses, schools, sports teams, city and town departments along with their residents took the Pink Pledge this October. Noor Deeb, Vice President at Wilmington Trust, M&T Bank’s wealth management business, said: “We understand that the journey of cancer treatment and research is not one traveled alone. Our collective support provides strength and hope to those battling the disease and honors the courage of those whose loved ones fought valiantly. M&T Bank is proud of its enduring partnership with the Norma Pfriem Breast Center and our unwavering support of Pink Pledge. Together, we have raised awareness and funds to ensure that all women have equitable access to breast cancer treatment.” Click here to donate to the Norma Pfriem Breast Center, part of Smilow Cancer Hospital network. |
| Insight: The CT Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the only dedicated burn center in the state of Connecticut | Donors in Focus Staff of the Connecticut Burn Center, Bridgeport Hospital Foundation, and Wonderland of Ice join Westport Firefighter, Pete Nichio in accepting a check representing proceeds of the Battle of the Badges hockey event. Local law enforcement donate hockey tournament proceeds to Bridgeport Hospital’s Burn Center Firefighters and police officers from southwestern Connecticut donated more than $6,000 to the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital this week, all thanks to an inaugural hockey tournament held in Bridgeport. The first annual Battle of the Badges Fire and Police Charity Hockey Tournament, sponsored by The Wonderland of Ice, was held July 13 at the ice rink. Spectators were treated to four inter-departmental hockey games, which included police from Bridgeport and Greenwich and firefighters from Greenwich, Milford and Westport. “Fire and police, we help others,” said Pete Nichio, a firefighter with Westport Fire. “If it’s not on the job stopping crime or putting out fires, it’s doing stuff like this.” Nichio helped organize the tournament with Bridgeport Police detective Tom Harper to raise both money and awareness for the state’s only Burn Center and its extraordinary team of doctors, nurses and patient care professionals. “The donations are priceless,” said Samantha Panzica, PA, burn program manager at the Connecticut Burn Center. “They not only help burn victims and their families with whatever support they need, be it transportation or meal vouchers, they also help the Burn Center obtain new technology that will help our patients during their treatments.” Donations from the community also help fund a peer support group for burn survivors. Click here to make a gift to the Connecticut Burn Center at |