Area of Greatest Need

Providence Portland Medical Foundation

Supports the medical center in areas that have the most immediate needs to further enhance high-quality care.

Meet Critical Needs

The Area of Greatest Need Fund provides Providence caregivers the opportunity to access unrestricted funds that will meet the most critical – and often unexpected – needs of our hospital. This fund allows us to quickly allocate resources to a range of important health care projects. In the past these funds have been used for equipment upgrades, renovation projects, technology and patient care.

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New 48-bed surge unit at Providence Portland Medical Center

When an emergency 48-bed unit opened in early 2022 at Providence Portland Medical Center, it was the result of timely pre-planning, generous Providence donors and a partnership with Oregon Health Authority. The unit was built quickly to help increase hospital capacity in Oregon, was COVID-19 hospitalizations and projected cases continued to rise with the Omicron surge.

In 2020 and 2021, after the Delta surge and not knowing what else COVID might bring, Providence took the initiative to begin converting an empty space into a temporary unit to manage future surges. The emergency unit was partially built out on the ninth floor of Providence Cancer Center, which had been left unfinished for future use when Providence opened the cancer tower in 2008.

Providence Portland Medical Foundation and donors provided funding for the surge unit through the foundation’s “area of greatest need” fund – an important reminder of why supporting this fund is so crucial. When the hospital has an unexpected need, these funds help the team respond quickly.