Stamford Health announces $10M gift
STAMFORD — Stamford Health, the system that includes Stamford Hospital, announced Monday a $10 million commitment from the foundation of the parent company of Stamford-based reinsurance underwriter OdysseyRe to support a new Breast Center that officials say is needed to meet growing demand and enhance patient care. With the contribution from the Odyssey Group Foundation, the new Breast Center is scheduled to open in late 2024 on the first floor of the Tully Health Center — bringing together services currently provided on the building’s second and fourth floors. The consolidation will deliver an improved patient experience through better patient flow, “co-location” of specialists, increased capacity and greater privacy, according to Stamford Health officials.
“The women of our area deserve the finest facilities to go along with the finest care,” Kathleen Silard, chief executive officer and president of Stamford Health, said in a press conference at the Tully Center, which is located just north of the downtown, at 32 Strawberry Hill Court. “Now it is time to match the level of care we provide to the beautiful and equally impressive settings that we want to provide that care in.”
The new Breast Center will focus on imaging and surgery, but it will also accommodate space for medical and/or radiation oncologists from Stamford Health’s Bennett Cancer Center to see patients. Along the new complex at the Tully Center, patients will continue to receive medical and radiation oncology treatments at the Bennett Cancer Center, which is located on the Stamford Hospital campus on the city’s west side, while mammograms will still be available at sites in other towns across the Stamford
Health network.
Stamford Health already ranks as a top-level provider of breast cancer care, with services that encompass initial diagnosis through reconstruction. In the 2022 fiscal year, Stamford Health performed more than 28,000 mammograms across facilities in Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Wilton and Greenwich. In addition, it delivered about 4,300 treatments for breast
cancer.
Among its honors, the Breast Center was the first such facility to gain accreditation, in 2009, from the American College of Surgeons’ National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.
“This gift will make a meaningful difference for the patients we see,” Dr. Mia Kazanjian, co-director of the Breast Center and director of women’s imaging, said at the press conference. “We are on the heels now of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is a very important time for outreach, given that many women, for so many reasons, didn’t have regular screening mammograms during the pandemic… The key to fighting breast cancer is early diagnosis, and the key to early diagnosis is screening mammography.”
Odyssey Group, which has nearly 300 Stamfordbased employees, is a longtime donor to Stamford Health. In 2011, it pledged $10 million to support a new emergency department, which launched in 2016 as part of the opening that year of the new Stamford Hospital. In 2008, Odyssey gave $2 million for the acquisition of the “da Vinci” surgical system.
“It’s an honor to be here. Stamford Hospital is a beacon in this community,” Odyssey Group CEO and President Brian Young said at the press conference, wearing a pink shirt in recognition of the color that represents breast cancer awareness. “I can’t tell you how proud we are to be affiliated with this outstanding institution.”
Odyssey Group Foundation’s donation comprises part of Stamford Health’s Campaign for Women and Babies. Having raised slightly more than $33 million of its approximately $40 million target, the campaign is supporting other projects including the modernization of the Whittingham Pavilion on Stamford Health’s Bennett Medical Center Campus, as well as the expansion of other services and programs throughout the Stamford Health system .
In total, more than 3,700 people work for Stamford Health, which ranks as the largest employer in Stamford.