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Valleywise Health Foundation Receives Major Grant for Naming of the New Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health

Historic milestone for Valleywise Health and its renowned Arizona Burn Center made possible by the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation

PHOENIX – January 21, 2022

Valleywise Health Foundation is thrilled to announce it has received major grant funding from the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation to support naming of the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center, currently under construction as part of the new 10-story Valleywise Health Medical Center, scheduled to open in late 2023.

“A new burn center has been a long time coming,” said Dr. Kevin Foster, Director of the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health. “With the support of the Halle Foundation, this will not just be a new facility, but a new way of caring for patients. This will be the premier burn center in the country.”

Established in 1965 under the leadership of the late Dr. MacDonald Wood, the Arizona Burn Center was recognized in 2000 by the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma with its highest level of burn care recognition under the leadership of the late Dr. Dan Caruso. Since that time, the Arizona Burn Center has been nationally verified six times and remains Arizona’s only nationally verified adult and pediatric burn center.

Treating some of the most complex and traumatic burn and wound cases, the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health is one of the nation’s largest and busiest academic burn centers with 5,000 outpatient visits and more than 1,000 inpatient admissions each year. Serving the entire Southwest region, this renowned center for innovation, research and world-class clinical burn care has excelled in facilities built in 1971, not designed for the unique needs of burn and wound care patients.

“We look forward to putting this impactful gift from the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation to work,” said Valleywise Health CEO Steve Purves. “Our world-class team will now have the modern, progressive facilities to match their level of care, and the ability to maximize both the acute and long-term physical and psychosocial needs of burn survivors continuing their recovery.”

The new 75,000 square-foot Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center was designed from both the patient’s and clinician’s perspective bringing the functions and features of burn care excellence into one location. The design philosophy and physical layout will foster a sense of safety, openness, collaboration, and peer support in recovery and responsiveness – which are key in addressing the trauma associated with burns – as well as a patient’s long-term recovery. The single-floor evidence-based design will allow all members of the burn care team to easily interact. Other new features include a dedicated pediatric wing, family support rooms, space for research and teaching and more.

The Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation works with community organizations to strengthen the daily opportunities and the lifelong outcomes for the people and communities in the state of Arizona. The organization currently supports human services, health and medical, education, arts and culture and spirituality for underserved populations and communities through grantmaking. The Foundation provides grants to hospitals, access to medical care, medical research projects and facilities, as well as organizations that provide dental, vision and other medical services to populations with the greatest needs.

“The Halle Family Foundation Board Members realize the devastation and pain related to burn patients and we are inspired to help,” said Diane Halle. “May this grant allow the Arizona Burn Center team to provide a safe and supportive healing environment for burn patients and their families.  We are proud to support the next chapter of burn care excellence at Valleywise Health.”

“Immense gratitude to the Halle family and the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation for this historic gift that will raise the bar for lifelong burn survivorship care in Arizona and the Southwest region for generations to come,” said Mary Rose Wilcox, Chairman of the Maricopa County Special Healthcare District board of directors. “Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Kevin Foster and the late Dr. Dan Caruso who led the Arizona Burn Center’s growth since 1999. Theirs is a legacy reflected in this monumental gift.”

“As a burn survivor and recipient of the expert care provided at the Arizona Burn Center, I have a very personal perspective of the importance of this generous gift from the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation and the lives it will impact,” said Valleywise Health Foundation Board Chair John Hoopes. Many may not know the public health mission of Valleywise Health includes a center of excellence in burn care until they need it, like I did. This investment recognizes the importance of that mission and will provide our clinicians the facilities they need to lead nationally and internationally and give burn patients access to a range of world class care as they recover and thrive.”

“What an honor it has been to work with the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation,” said Valleywise Health Foundation’s Vice President of Development Kate Fassett. “We look forward to the months and years ahead as the Diane & Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center leads in burn care, research and education, resulting in better care for burn survivors around the world.”

 

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About Valleywise Health Foundation and Valleywise Health

Valleywise Health Foundation is the Phoenix-based 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing financial support for critical patient and program needs at Arizona’s public teaching health system, Valleywise Health. Named Arizona Business Magazine’s AzBusiness Angels Healthcare-focused Nonprofit of the Year in 2020 and in 2021, key funding areas include, burn survivorship care, innovative behavioral health programs, and teaching tomorrow’s health care professionals. The Valleywise Health mission is to provide exceptional care, without exception, every patient, every time – regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. More than 70 percent of Valleywise Health’s patients are financially vulnerable. To learn more and donate, contact Kate Fassett kfassett@valleywisehealthfoundation.org or visit www.valleywisehealthfoundation.org.

About Valleywise Health Located in Phoenix, Arizona and named one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health in 2020, Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) has a proud tradition of being the public safety net health care system with a mission and commitment to serving the underserved. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, Arizona’s only public teaching hospital, the only trauma center in Maricopa County verified by the American College of Surgeons to treat both adults and children, and Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States. Other services include the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV primary care in Arizona, the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, three behavioral health hospitals, and a network of 11 community health centers located throughout Maricopa County. To learn more, please visit www.ValleywiseHealth.org

 

Contact:

Marcia Scott

Valleywise Health Foundation

602-451-4550

mscott@valleywisehealthfoundation.org

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