Ribbon Cutting for Expanded Rome Dialysis Center

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Thanks to generous gifts from donors, Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare’s (FSLH) Rome Dialysis Center has been expanded. A ribbon cutting held in January 2012 celebrated the donors whose generous gifts made the expansion possible and included Howard Sears, The Rome Community Foundation, Hannaford Charitable Foundation and the Dorothy G. Griffin Charitable Foundation.

The facility now has 16 patient treatment stations, double the previous number, with radiant heating and heated chairs for patient comfort as well as a state of the art water filtration system.

As the president of H. P. Sears Oil Company Howard Sears had an immediate interest in the water filtration system. Water filtration is a critical necessity in dialysis units where large amounts of water are used during treatment. “I know tugboats and terminals so I appreciate a shipshape situation when I see one,” he said. “I was impressed with the quality and craftsmanship of the filtration system and because it was in a medical facility, it was even better.”

Howard’s wife, Suzanne, received dialysis treatments at FSLH for eight years. They were thankful that she was able to receive treatment close to home at the Rome Dialysis Center and showed their appreciation by supporting the expansion. Suzanne passed away in 2010 before the expansion was complete, but Howard has witnessed the difference their contribution made in the care of other dialysis patients in their community.

“It’s fitting that Howard chose such an instrumental piece of the project to support,” said Eileen M. Pronobis, CFRE, executive director of the FSLH Foundation.

“I’ve never supported something with so much significance as the dialysis expansion,” he said. “It gave me my wife for an extra eight years.”

“We are very pleased that generous donors like the ones we honored at the ribbon cutting support projects that allow us to provide care for our patients close to home,” said Pronobis. “They make such a positive difference to healthcare in our community and we could not have done it without them.”