R.F. Conway: Gratitude for Emergency Department support

I want to thank the Daily Hampshire Gazette for your coverage of Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s recent topping-off ceremony for the new Emergency Department and the community members who made it possible.

I started working at Cooley Dickinson 40 years ago. I’ve watched the Emergency Department evolve and the number of patients who rely on it increase dramatically. We now care for more than twice as many patients annually as we did back then. I’ve stayed at Cooley because the quality of care that patients receive and the staff remain excellent. The facility, however, has not kept pace. It has been amazing to witness community members, local businesses, and foundations step forward so that the hospital can invest $26 million in a complete renovation and expansion of the Emergency Department — $11 million has been donated to date.

I personally donate to many nonprofits locally, but Cooley Dickinson is the recipient of the majority of my support because it has the greatest impact on our community. It is heartening to know that so many others agree.

The topping-off ceremony celebrated the progress funded by this generosity. A year after the groundbreaking, we raised a beam that will be the highest point in the new Emergency Department. As I look at the hospital’s history and future, it is community investment that makes everything we do possible. Thank you to everyone who has donated and to anyone considering a gift to make Cooley Dickinson the ideal place for emergency medicine.

R.F. Conway, M.D.

Medical director of urgent and occupational health, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Pittsfield