PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview, Wash., has received a $1.2 million donation from a Vancouver, Wash., couple to renovate the hospital's breast center.
The construction project, slated to begin in the spring and wrap up in the fall, will enable St. John to locate all of its breast center physicians and clinicians in one place — currently they are spread throughout the medical center. St. John also will upgrade technology and improve the look of the facility during the renovation.
St. John plans to fund the $2.3 million upgrade entirely through philanthropy — the hospital's foundation already has raised all but $500,000 of that amount.
The recently announced donation from Lee and Connie Kearney follows a $2 million donation they made in 2009 to the breast center at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. PeaceHealth plans for the Longview and Vancouver centers, which are about 40 miles apart, to work together more closely.
Connie Kearney, who was Clark County, Wash.'s first female commissioner, is a breast cancer survivor whose disease was detected early. She and her husband made the donation in recognition of the importance of early detection and access to services, they said. Lee Kearney is a former director and division manager for the Kiewit construction company.