Erie Shores HealthCare is seeing some improvements thanks to a $1-million anonymous donation.
Erie Shores Health Foundation (ESHF) and Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) announced the launch of a transformative Room Refurbishment Project which marks the beginning of modernizing patient rooms within the hospital.
In April 2025, two rooms with ESHC were renovated in the palliative wing following contributions from LiUNA 625! and the Iacobelli family with Transition to Betterness.
With this newly announced anonymous donation, the hospital and the foundation can now renovate additional rooms.
The cost for a complete revitalization including bathroom refurbishment ranges from $250,000 to $500,000 per room and bathroom. A complete room refurbishment includes upgraded technology, privacy upgrades, and enhanced accessibility and safety control measures.
Penny Bellhouse, Executive Director of Erie Shores Health Foundation, says this project was set in motion by the donation.
"The gift is going to allow us to do a basic refurbishment of one wing on the second floor, it's med surg [medical-surgical], it's the wing that's in most need of refurbishment throughout the hospital."
She says they were floored by this anonymous donation.
"Anytime anybody shows up with that kind of donation, we're always thrilled. I always get the butterflies that never really goes away in this job, and just to have somebody recognize that need for a beautiful space for patients to heal and get better in is such an important thing to the healthcare journey."
Bellhouse says work is expected to being in the next couple of months.
"The difficulty is because the hospital is full all of the time it is difficult to do some of these spaces, and have the room empty for too long. So, they have to be really strategic about when and how long things are shut down."
Bellhouse adds that the two rooms that were recently renovated required much more extensive work.
Opportunities for recognition are available for donors who sponsor a room beginning at the $250,000 level.