Bellevue Woman's Center Boosted by $1 Million Foundation Grant

The Schenectady Foundation (TSF) has made a $1 million grant to support Ellis Medicines efforts to continue to improve the delivery of maternal and infant health care in the community. With this grant, TSF has laid one of the key cornerstones for its multi-year focus on Strengthening Families.

The grant is the single largest funding commitment ever made by the Foundation.

Through its Strengthening Families initiative, TSF is working to support an integrated system of services that provides Schenectady County families with the resources they need to raise healthy, resilient children who achieve success in school and in the community. Getting families - parents as well as children - off to a strong healthy start -- is the first major component of TSFs plan that will also include child development, family counseling, education and neighborhood development.

TSFs grant will assist Ellis with its plans to renovate and expand the facility at Bellevue Woman's Center to provide the best possible OB/GYN services and care for the community. Ellis plans, estimated at a cost of $15 million, include: additional private patient rooms; a new Labor-Delivery-Recovery room; expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Nursery; new Imaging Center with mammography, bone density, ultrasound and stereotactic breast biopsy services; and amenities such as a caf and a redesigned lobby.

"Advancing Ellis plans for the services at Bellevue is essential to the health and well-being of our community, especially mothers and infants," said Herbert L. Shultz, Jr., Vice Chair of the Foundation. "Ellis is a critical partner in our strategy to support the success of Schenectady's families. The work they have put into restructuring health care, and the expansion at Bellevue, will go a long way toward achieving our mutual goals."

"Ellis is extremely grateful to The Schenectady Foundation for its continued generosity," said James W. Connolly, President and CEO of Ellis Medicine. "This grant is a tremendous boost for our exciting Bellevue project and it supports Ellis ongoing commitment to meet the health care needs of women and infants in our community. We are proud to partner with The Schenectady Foundation with a shared dedication to improving the quality of life for Schenectady's families."

A goal of the TSFs Strengthening Families initiative is to assist key organizations to work together more effectively to achieve better outcomes. As a Strengthening Families partner, Ellis will continue to integrate hospital programs with community-based services to address identified health priorities. Ellis existing educational and outreach programs, as well as the services offered through Ellis Medical Home, will serve as key components in a community-wide effort to improve access to care, and ultimately, to improve the overall health and well-being of our community.

The Schenectady Foundation is a community foundation whose mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of people who live or work in Schenectady County, NY. The Foundation has committed more than $5.5 million to its Strengthening Families initiative over the next seven years.