SANDPOINT - Bonner General Health has received a $200,000 grant from the Sunderland Foundation. The grant will fund portions of an Emergency Department renovation, scheduled to take place this fall.

“We are thankful to the Sunderland Foundation for selecting Bonner General Health as a recipient of this generous grant,” Sheryl Rickard, CEO, Bonner General Health. "A visit to the Emergency Department is generally unplanned and can be a frightening experience. This grant will enable us to improve our patients' experiences and increase our ability to respond to our community's needs."

The renovation will include work stations for doctors and nurses, expansion of the paramedic entryway, patient room improvements, updated windows, flooring, lighting, and ceiling tiles. The changes in the Emergency Department will improve the patient flow and experience, protect the privacy of patients, and promote a safe and secure place to receive care, BGH officials said.

Bonner General Health's Community Development Department began searching for grant opportunities after a previously scheduled Emergency Department renovation was put on indefinite hold due to a reduction in revenue as a result of COVID-19, hospital officials said in a press release. The project was slated to begin in October of this year. Like most healthcare organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in forced closures of non-essential services, staff furloughs, unfortunate lay-offs, and a 70% loss of revenue, hospital officials said.

As a result, funds allotted for the remodel were no longer available, but the need was just as essential, if not more so after community spread of COVID-19 arose in the area, BGH officials said in the press release. Among letters of support submitted for the grant was one written by Bonner County EMS and Emergency Department Medical Director and ED Physician Dr. Vince Huntsberger, expressing the urgent need for the remodel.

Bonner General Health's Emergency Department employs 26 staff members, services the communities of North Idaho and northwestern Montana, and saw 10,447 emergency visits in 2019. Established in 1949 and housed in its current location since 1973, the Emergency Department has not been updated in 31 years. A 25-bed critical access hospital, BGH offers a healthcare network of outpatient clinics and services.

The Sunderland Foundation was established in 1945 by Lester T. Sunderland, who served as president of the Ash Grove Cement Company for 33 years as a highly respected leader in the cement industry. Since its inception, the foundation, has focused on supporting construction projects, awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other markets traditionally served by the Ash Grove Cement Company. Grants are typically awarded for planning, design, construction, renovation, repairs and restoration in areas of higher education, human services, arts and culture, health care and hospitals.

Information: Bonner General Health, www.bonnergeneral.org; or Sunderland Foundation, www.sunderland.org