Silver Cross Foundation Receives Walmart Community Grants for COVID-19 Relief Efforts and Open Heart Surgery Program
The Silver Cross Foundation has proudly partnered with the Walmart Foundation, which has made it their mission to create opportunity so people can live better one community at a time. Over the last several months, Silver Cross received a total of $11,500 in community grants and gift cards from the Walmart stores in New Lenox, Joliet and Lockport to support the Hospital’s COVID-19 relief efforts and advance heart care services.
Earlier this month, Shannon Trovato, New Lenox Walmart general manager and several associates, personally presented $5,000 in gift cards for the hospital’s Employee Assistance Fund.
“The gift cards will be given to Silver Cross employees, especially those who are experiencing financial hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tracy Simons, Executive Director of the Silver Cross Foundation.
In addition, Trovato commissioned a $5,000 grant to support the not-for-profit hospital’s general operating fund. “Over the past two months, Silver Cross has cared for over 2,100 patients who have been suspected or tested positive for the COVID-19 virus,” said Simons. “We are grateful for Walmart’s support so that we can continue to provide safe, quality healthcare for our patients during this difficult time.”
The Walmart Foundation’s Community Grant Program awards grants of $250 to $5,000 through Walmart stores, Sam's Clubs and Logistics facilities. Eligible nonprofit organizations must operate within the service area of the facility from which they are requesting funding.
In addition, Silver Cross received $1,000 from Joliet and $500 from the Lockport stores to advance heart care services in the community. Silver Cross Hospital recently embarked on constructing a 33,000-square-foot, 2-story addition on the east side of the hospital that will include:
- Two cardiovascular operating rooms
- Two dedicated open heart operating rooms
- A hybrid room for minimally invasive heart procedures
- Two dedicated recovery rooms
- A dedicated patient elevator to the hospital’s new 16-bed cardiovascular unit
When construction is complete in late 2020, Silver Cross will have the ability to provide innovative, multi-specialty care for patients with advanced and complex coronary disease. This includes surgery to correct the abnormalities of the heart structure such as repairing and replacing aortic and mitral valves.
Historically, open-heart surgery has been the common method for treating structural heart disease; however, minimally invasive valve replacement now provides a viable alternative to patients for whom conventional surgery is considered too risky—and offers the potential benefits of lower risk of infection, less trauma to the chest and heart muscle tissue, reduced length of stay in the hospital, and a quicker recovery.
For more information or to make a donation to the Campaign for Heart Care, visit www.silvercross.org/heart.
To support Silver Cross Hospital’s COVID-19 Relief efforts, visit www.silvercross.org/giving/donate-now.
For more information on the Walmart Foundation’s grant programs, visit http://giving.walmart.com/foundation.
