 White Plains, NY - White Plains Hospital Center (WPHC) has unveiled plans for a year-long celebration marking its 115th anniversary.
Events throughout 2008 will promote the theme—Celebrating 115 Years of Good Health—and recognize the significant contributions that members of the Hospital’s extended family have made to the institution’s success—the community, physicians, nurses, technicians, management and administrative staff, donors, volunteers and corporate sponsors.
The celebration will comprise 15 anniversary-year events including some of the Hospital’s notable annual undertakings—the Mayfair Celebration at Rye Playland, the Neighborhood Health Fair, Cancer Survivors’ Day, Golf Tournament, Nurse Apprentice Benefit, the NICU Reunion, Scarecrow Festival and the Auxiliary of White Plain Hospital Center’s Gala. These will be promoted by using the 115th anniversary logo in press release announcements, mailers, posters and other collateral materials.
Also planned are a Health Symposium for the community and special events to recognize physicians, volunteers and employees.
Throughout the year, banners and posters with the anniversary logo will be prominently displayed in the Hospital’s lobby and other highly trafficked areas
Paul M. Weissman, Chairman of the Hospital’s Board of Directors, who came up with the idea for the year-round celebration, said, “We’re pulling out all the stops to mark the incredible accomplishments that White Plains Hospital Center has achieved since 1893 in promoting the health and well being of the community it serves and to set the stage for continuing this great tradition for at least another 115 years.”
He added: “One of the major messages we will be communicating throughout the year is the importance of preventive measures such as eating right, keeping fit and getting regular check ups and screenings that individuals can take to remain healthy and avoid trips to the Hospital.
Jon B. Schandler, Hospital President and CEO, noted: “This milestone year celebration will not only afford us the opportunity to recall our remarkable growth from a four-bed facility into a major world-class—and Westchester’s pre-eminent hospital—but to pay tribute to the many individuals who have and will continue to make this progress possible in the years ahead. Indeed, we are so fortunate to possess a family as passionately committed to good health as ours is. That’s been and will continue to be a secret of our success.”
“Firsts” of the Hospital
In 1893, White Plains Hospital Association received a charter from New York State authorizing it to establish a voluntary, not-for-profit hospital. The Hospital’s first building was a converted house on Chatterton Hill comprising four beds.
Today, the Hospital boasts 292 beds and a staff comprising more than 700 doctors and almost 600 nurses. It is one of Westchester’s major employers with almost 1,900 employees and an annual budget of $250 million. There are also three satellite facilities in Rye Brook – The Women’s Imaging Center, an outpatient Physical Therapy Center and a Home Care office.
The Hospital has also achieved a number of ‘firsts’ in Westchester:
In 1966, White Plains Hospital Center (WPHC) opened the County’s first Coronary Care Unit.
WPHC was the first hospital in the County to have a PET scanner on site.
WPHC does more joint replacement procedures than any other hospital in Westchester County.
The WPHC Anxiety and Phobia Clinic was the first one of its kind in the United States.
WPHC is a founding member of Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester.
In 1990, WPHC became the first hospital in Westchester County to add a certified midwife to the medical staff.
The WPHC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit holds a Level III designation, the highest designation given to a community hospital by the State of New York.
WPHC delivers more babies than any other hospital in Westchester County.
WPHC provides free preventative medical care and screenings to more than 500 community members annually at its neighborhood health fair.
The Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center is the only free-standing facility devoted solely to the treatment of cancer in Westchester County.
WPHC does more laparoscopic, or minimally invasive procedures, than any other hospital in Westchester County.
WPHC sees more than 45,000 patients a year in its Emergency Department – more than any other hospital in Westchester County and the nearby region.
WPHC was the first in New York State to house the Aurora Breast MRI.
In April 2005, WPHC became the first and only hospital in Westchester County to be designated by New York State as a Regional Stroke Center.
Jon B. Schandler holds the distinction as the longest reigning hospital CEO in Westchester County, serving 25 years.
In 2007, the Hospital is notified for winning three prestigious national awards for clinical excellence:
1.The Outstanding Achievement Award for 2006 from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons; one of only 31 community hospital cancer programs nationwide and the only one in Westchester and the New York metro area to be recognized for the prestigious award.
2.Hospital receives the American Stroke Association’s Annual Performance Achievement Award, only facility in Westchester to receive the honor and one of only 113 in the country.
3.Hospital is ranked by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services among just 38 hospitals in the U.S.—and the only one in Westchester—to have better than national mortality rates for heart failure.
Also in 2007: For the sixth time, the Hospital is recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals—and the best in Westchester—by winning the National Research Corporation’s Consumer Choice Award.
White Plains Hospital Center (WPHC) is a 292-bed voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of offering high quality, acute health care and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. WPHC is a member of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and the Stellaris Health Network,. For additional information, visit www.wphospital.org.
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