Major Gift Names Center for Physician's Mother
Kathleen McGrady, MD, made a generous gift to Pardee Foundation resulting in naming the Breast Center the Elizabeth Reilly Breast Center at  Pardee Hospital. The gift honors the memory of Dr. McGrady’s mother Elizabeth Reilly, who died of breast cancer.
“In my career as a pediatrician, I worked at the University of Miami in Pediatric Oncology where I saw and treated many types of cancer. When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, it brought the disease even closer to me and my family,” Dr. McGrady said. “When I heard about the renovations at Pardee’s Cancer Center and the addition of a nurse navigator, who will provide one-on-one attention and education to patients as they are diagnosed with potential cancer, it was important for me to be generous in my giving. I am pleased that my family will be honored and remembered with the naming of the breast center.”
The renovations to the Elizabeth Reilly Breast Center were completed in January 2007. New digital mammography and stereotactic biopsy equipment have been added. A new floor plan includes a larger waiting area with a large picture window looking out onto a wooded area.
The Elizabeth Reilly Breast Center is part of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Pardee, which is a designation earned from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Kay Boyd, RN, the breast care navigator said, “The windows are definitely one of the most noticeable improvements. Light is healing and just sitting in the waiting room with the trees waving in the wind and the sun occasionally shining will hopefully make the patient’s day a little brighter.”
The project also included widening the narrow hallway leading from the main lobby to the Breast Center by demolishing several unused dressing rooms.
“The hallway renovation is also a major improvement allowing the patient and the technologist to walk side by side giving the patient a sense of his or her importance, rather than following behind the technologist,” Boyd said. “All of the renovations combined will help our patients to feel comfortable with procedures that many believe to be uncomfortable.”
Updated furniture, wallpaper, and flooring creates a clean and modern environment reflecting the high level of technology and expertise located there.
“Just as we feel better if we have a good hair day or a new outfit,” Boyd added, “A department that is fresh and clean and inviting will help the patients feel better and give them a sense of a department that is orderly and capable.”
Financial support from the Foundation was critical to allowing this $1 million project to move forward given the financial recovery at the hospital.
“When Pardee Foundation was asked to raise funds for the breast center renovations and digital mammography equipment, a gift advisory committee took on the task with enthusiasm,” Pardee Foundation Executive Director Myra Grant said. “This committee raised $394,392.98 for the equipment and renovation. Additionally, Dr. McGrady’s gift, along with all the other major sponsors, will have made this center a standard for the region.”
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