NEWS RELEASE: The Ellen Hermanson Foundation Grants $363,000 to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Community Partners
Recipients include the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center, Ellen’s Well support program, and The Ellen Hermanson Foundation Community Partnership
Standing L-R: Michelle Wintjen, Kristen Lessler, Laura Bordhardt, Ann Ciardullo, Cathy Tweedy, Julie Ratner, Dr. Edna Kapenhas, Laura David. Photo credit: Lisa Tamburini.
Southampton, NY January 10, 2024 — The Ellen Hermanson Foundation announced today that it awarded $363,000 in grants for its fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. The funds benefit Stony Brook Southampton Hospital as well as other local organizations. Administered in partnership with the Southampton Hospital Foundation in coordination with the Phillips Family Cancer Center, the grants support the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and regional satellites, and Ellen’s Well, a program that provides psychosocial support to breast and gynecological cancer patients. Other grants to members of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation Community Partnership support bilingual outreach, social support via microgrants, and breast care education for women without ready access to health care.
“We are delighted to continue our support of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation Community Partnership with our sister organizations for the third year,” said Julie Ratner, Ed.D., Co-founder and Board President of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation. “The uninsured, underinsured and underserved need quality breast health care. No one is turned away from the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center.”
Under Medical Director Dr. Edna Kapenhas, the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center is committed to provide the most advanced technology and compassionate care available in a community hospital setting. For 2024, the Board awarded a grant to help support Dr. Kapenhas’s mission to the Dominican Republic to provide breast screening and treatment.
In December 2023 the Board approved the following grants to fund 2024 programs:
The Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
Technology fund toward a cutting-edge tomosynthesis mammography machine
Salary stipends for the Ellen’s Well licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), a nurse practitioner, and an oncology nurse patient navigator
Emergency fund for breast screenings and diagnostic procedures
Ellen’s Well microgrants for transportation and social services
International Breast Cancer Surgical Mission to the Dominican Republic for screenings and treatment
Support for the Phillips Family Cancer Care Summit
The Ellen Hermanson Foundation Community Partnership
Shinnecock Health Center (Stony Brook Southampton Hospital)
Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center
OLA (Organización Latino-Americana) of Eastern Long Island
The Retreat
Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert Ellen Hermanson Memorial Symposium
About The Ellen Hermanson Foundation
The Ellen Hermanson Foundation ensures access to state-of-the-art breast health care and empowers people affected by cancer. Funds raised provide access to essential health care in our own community through breast cancer screenings and treatment at the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and satellite locations in Hampton Bays and East Hampton. Through Ellen’s Well, The Ellen Hermanson Foundation provides bilingual outreach, education and support, transportation and social assistance, and other healing opportunities for breast cancer patients — free of charge. No one is turned away from the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center for lack of insurance or inability to pay for treatment.
About Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
Staffed by more than 280 physicians, dentists, and allied health professionals representing 48 medical specialties, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is a campus of Stony Brook University Hospital, and offers a diverse array of clinical services, ranging from primary medical care to specialized surgical procedures, including orthopedics and bariatrics. The sole provider of emergency care on Long Island’s South Fork, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is a provisional Level III adult Trauma Center. The hospital includes The Phillips Family Cancer Center, a Heart and Stroke Center, Breast Health Center, The Center for Advanced Wound Healing, and 32 satellite care centers throughout the South Fork of Long Island. The hospital is the largest employer on the South Fork with more than 1,200 employees.
# # #
For more information and/or Interviews, please contact:
Julie Ratner, Ed.D.
Co-founder & Chair of the Board
The Ellen Hermanson Foundation
info@ellensrun.org
631-907-1952
ellenhermanson.org
Barbara-Jo Howard
Executive Director of Communications & Marketing
Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
barbarajo.howard@stonybrookmedicine.edu
631-726-8700 ext. 4