Partner in Profile: Danbury Hospital - Partnering for Better Health

“I asked for a donation of bone and chest x-rays and came away with a partnership that has helped better the lives of 4,200”, says a grateful Karen Gottlieb, Executive Director of AmeriCares Free Clinics about Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. The hospital has provided services valued at more than $1,200,000 in support of the Clinics mission to provide quality health care to the uninsured or working poor in three Connecticut communities.

The AmeriCares and Danbury Hospital partnership developed when Dr. George Terranova, then Chief of the Emergency Department, began to donate his time as Medical Director of the Danbury Free Clinic. Dr. Terranova quickly discovered the value the clinic provided by keeping non-emergency patients out of overcrowded emergency rooms and providing the quality follow-up care they needed. George spread the word about the clinics work at the Hospital and the list of donated services quickly grew. They now include emergency care, laboratory testing, private consultations, radiological services and dental care.

Dr. Patrick Broderick, successor to Dr. Terranova in his role as Chairman of Emergency Medicine, serves as the current volunteer Medical Director of the Danbury Clinic. Dr. Broderick also contributes his time as a volunteer physician at the clinic, one of many from the Danbury Hospital who do so. On his experience with the clinic, he remarks, “The work that is done at the AmeriCares Free Clinic in Danbury is an invaluable asset to the community and to the working poor. Without such care, they would likely go without medical care or be forced to use expensive emergency department care”. 

The 371-bed community teaching hospital serves approximately 360,000 residents of western Connecticut and southeastern New York. Staffed by more than 500 physicians and dentists, Danbury Hospital offers expertise care in 10 clinical areas. There are also seven residency programs for graduate physicians.
 
AmeriCares thanks Danbury Hospital for providing the tools to help us deliver high-quality health care to those less fortunate. Dina Valenti, director of the Danbury clinic, says it best: “Our partnership is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when a medical community pulls together with the common goal of helping patients most in need of assistance.”