Area hospital foundations recently announced updates to their campaign focuses.
 
Citing a growing number of patients turning to the emergency room for behavioral health needs, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center Foundation last month launched a campaign to raise $3.5 million for behavioral health initiatives to benefit Brunswick County.
 
The campaign, called A Path Forward, looks to raise money for treatment, outreach programs and community education addressing behavioral health.
 
Specific goals, according to foundation officials, are to:

• “Expand the Brunswick Medical Center emergency department to include five beds dedicated to behavioral health patients to provide better treatment and safety for all.
• Integrate Brunswick County Novant Health clinics into a countywide comprehensive behavioral health outreach network to improve local access to Novant Health medical experts.
• Develop a direct outreach program for early detection of behavioral health and substance misuse issues including telemedicine hubs serving county schools, with an initial focus on middle school students, and nurses on the front line of behavioral health and substance misuse issues.
• Initiate proactive in-school outreach and support for younger students. • Support education programs on prevention and treatment of chronic illnesses.
• Increase the number of first responders, training and transportation in coordination with Brunswick County Sheriff ’s Office Anchor Initiative, [which] provides care, recovery and treatment for any person with substance misuse issues that seeks help from any member of the Brunswick County Sheriff ’s Office.”

“The Foundation recognized there was a growing need for those in the community with behavioral health conditions to be able to access proper care,” Cindy Cheatham, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center Foundation development program manager, said in a news release.
 
New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation, also last month, announced its newest initiative called Currents of Care to provide support for those diagnosed with cancer.
 
Currents of Care, NHRMC Foundation officials said, builds on their longtime success with The Pink Ribbon Project, which provides patients in the region access to 3D mammography screenings, comfort to those undergoing cancer treatment and community awareness of breast cancer and the benefits of early diagnosis and screenings.
 
“We wanted to make sure we were in the right position to expand our reach to help all cancer patients while also continuing to support The Pink Ribbon Project,” said Schorr Davis, NHRMC vice president of development and the foundation’s executive director. “We are fortunate the time is right thanks to our many generous community members who support Pink Ribbon by holding independent events throughout the year.”
 
Those events raised more than $52,000 last year.
 
The project’s annual fundraising lunch is March 12 and features Randy Aldridge, evening news anchor at WWAY TV, and Sheila Boles, a former local high school basketball coach, former UNCW women’s basketball player and 2020 inductee to the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame as speakers, sharing their personal experiences with cancer.