Cookeville Regional Medical Center Foundation

Programs: Cookeville regional charitable foundation, inc. (foundation) serves to enhance the quality and availability of healthcare within its community. The foundation works as an independent affiliate of cookeville regional medical center (a tax-exempt hospital authority) by: meeting critical charitable needs of patients; offering free health-education and medical services throughout the upper cumberland community; operating compassionate programs that enhance the patient experience; and promoting community investment in cookeville regional medical center. The foundation has a variety of programs and funds designed to meet growing acute and long-term specific charitable health-needs of patients and our upper cumberland community. We focus our efforts in four main areas: 1. Critical charitable services for patients; 2. Community services focused on education and preventative health-measures; 3. Compassionate in-hospital programs; and 4. Investments in the long-term success of cookeville regional medical center (crmc) as a community-owned, regional hospital. Patient assistancewhen sickness, disease or injury strikes we all turn to those closest to us for help. But what happens to those who have no family nearby, or lack the resources or support network to tackle dealing with a life altering condition? What happens to those who are so ill they can no longer work? How will they make ends meet? What happens to their family? Healthcare is a complex and confusing industry; but thankfully, compassionate care is not. Thanks to caring donors and a committed group of healthcare professionals at crmc, we are able to meet the charitable needs of over 3,000 patients from all areas of the upper cumberland area. Patient assistance programs help families and individuals facing unexpected challenges. Assistance is given to help with a variety of critical needs, and funds have been established to aid many specific patient groups. Caring hands:the caring hands patient assistance fund has been developed to assist patients with critical charitable needs, such as medications, medical equipment, treatments or procedures, travel expenses to and from the hospital, groceries or supplements, utilities and other various needs. Cancer care program:our cancer care program is designed to meet some of the charitable needs of patients. We can provide food when patients cannot afford it, pay for some medications, pay a utility bill, pay for transportation, etc. So that these financial barriers do not hinder a patient from completing their cancer treatments. No one should have to forego cancer treatment because they are unable to afford to meet basic needs. The heart fund:the heart fund provides temporary assistance to heart patients and their families who suffer loss of income due to medical expenses, lack of insurance, or loss of life. Hospice and palliative care:the hospice and palliative care program provides direct assistance to uninsured and under-insured hospice and palliative-care patients throughout the upper cumberland. Working through area social workers and case managers at various hospice organizations and medical centers, the program responds to the needs of hospice and palliative patients and their families in our community. Additionally, the program additionally helps promote an environment of compassion for end-of-life care at crmc, and supports palliative-care education initiatives for communities and professional caregivers throughout the upper cumberland. Pediatric care:our pediatric assistance program assists the most vulnerable among us, our children. We help children who are living with a condition that their families are struggling to treat due to cost; babies born into families that cannot cover basic needs for their infant like diapers or bottles; children going through rehabilitation for cognitive, motor, emotional, language, behavioral and developmental issues; and babies born into addiction, who may require special treatment, monitoring and support. We also provide a memorial care package to families of babies born with a terminal condition. Other care:we also provide a diabetes fund and a mental health fund to further assist families and patients suffering from illnesses in these fields of specialty. Community health empowering our community through health-education, and making preventative health-care available to everyone in our region, is fundamental to our mission. Individuals and families can only make good healthcare decisions if they are knowledgeable about diseases, illnesses and conditions, and if they understand what services are available to them. Education is fundamentally important along all steps of proper healthcare. Likewise, preventative services like screenings are essential in identifying health issues, or potential health issues, before they progress into life-threatening or debilitating conditions. The foundation provides essential education opportunities and lifesaving screening and diagnostic services to individuals and families throughout our 14-county upper cumberland community. Community improvementhealing and compassionate care is about more than a job well done by doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals. We help promote a more compassionate and healing environment at crmc by supporting programs and services that go above and beyond the requirements of healthcare. The foundation has focused on maintaining calming and soothing greenways around the hospital, ensuring the continuation and expansion of areas like the healing garden; and installing quality paintings, sculptures and other works of art, helping patients feel more inspired and uplifted while at crmc. Compassionate services like pet therapy and care carts help patients feel more comfortable and at-home. Honorarium and memorial opportunities like tree of life and the memorial pathway remind us of our connection to one another and our shared human experiences. Finally, healthcare staff are not immune to unexpected hardships like disaster or medical emergency. The crmc employee assistance fund exists to help healthcare staff at crmc get though unexpected tough times.