Auxiliary raises $1.25M for hospital
Donation being used to make improvements to the NICU
In its 125th year, the Women’s Auxiliary to Chester County Hospital is completing its donation of $1.25 million to improve the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“I’m very proud of this group,” said Marie Robinson, president of the Women’s Board to Chester County Hospital. “It’s amazing the amount of money these women raise.”
Established in 1893, the Women’s Auxiliary to Chester County Hospital has served the community and its associated hospital since a year after the hospital was built.
Robinson said the $1.25 million donation was raised over a two year period and is being used to help renovate and expand the
NICU at Chester County Hospital, 701 E. Marshall St. in West Chester.
The renovation will expand the NICU to accommodate 15 beds, instead of the current 12. This will include private rooms and family transition rooms, according to Dr. Lisa Drinker, associate medical director in the NICU.
Chester County Hospital hosts the only Level 3 NICU in Chester County, Drinker said, meaning that they can “keep just about every baby in the community.”
“It’s our mission to really provide family-centered
care,” Drinker said. “We could not care for the babies without the Women’s Auxiliary.”
Drinker said the renovations to the NICU will be completed by early fall.
With more than 300 volunteer members in its ten branches, the Women’s Auxiliary to Chester County Hospital has raised money to “go to the hospital or one of the services they provide,” Robinson said, adding that the organization typically raises more than $600,000 each year.
In 2016, $694,000 was donated to the interventional cardiology lab. And in its 2014-2015 year, the organization raised $645,000 toward the 3D mammography machines for the radiology department.
“We really try to pick things that are near and dear to our hearts and things that we can relate to,” Robinson said. “We’re just really lucky that we have this.”
Robinson added that the organization’s next project hasn’t been chosen yet.
The Women’s Auxiliary also hosts annual programs. The largest project is Chester County Day, which all branches are involved in. The tour opens 15 to 20 historic homes in the county. This year houses in the Chester Springs area will be on display. The oldest running program of its sort in the nation, this is the 78th year it will be taking place, according to Robinson.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” Robinson said, adding that she expects 1,500 to 2,000 people to tour the houses the first Saturday in October.
Other major projects the Women’s Auxiliary for Chester County host include: Polo Cup sponsored by the Turks Head Auxiliary, which benefits the Prenatal Clinic and the Women’s Auxiliary pledge; Fore Health Golf Invitational hosted by the Willistown Auxiliary, which benefits the health services for women and children; and the Wine Festival at Dilworthtown Inn hosted by the Greystone and Brandywine Auxiliaries, which benefits the Abramson Cancer Center and Neighborhood Health Hospice.
In addition to the programs and events the Women’s Auxiliary for Chester County Hospital hosts, the Kennett Square branch of the organization also runs the Encore Shop on Route 1 near Longwood Gardens.
“That’s a huge, steady income for us,” Robinson said, adding that the organization also runs the gift shop at the Chester County Hospital.
For more information about the Women’s Auxiliary to Chester County Hospital visit www.chestercountyhospital.org/giving/get-involved/ volunteer/womens-auxiliary
Chester County Hospital is a 248-bed acute-care inpatient facility in West Chester. It also has outpatient services in Exton, West Goshen, New Garden, West Grove, Jennersville and Kennett Square. In 2013, Chester County Hospital became part of Penn Medicine.