Tim Hortons® Annual Smile Cookie Campaign is back and sales from all Western New York stores benefit ECMC’s Trauma and Emergency Department
For the 2nd year in a row, ECMC’s future trauma & emergency department will benefit from the annual fundraiser
BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation and Tim Hortons today announced that 100% of proceeds from the sale of Smile Cookies at Tim Hortons restaurants throughout Western New York from Monday, September 16th – Sunday, September 22nd will go again this year to ECMC’s Trauma and Emergency Department capital campaign. Each Smile Cookie costs $1.00. There are approximately 200 Tim Hortons stores in the eight counties of Western New York. Last year, the campaign raised close to $95,000 for ECMC’s new Trauma and Emergency Department, a record amount for any previous Smile Cookie campaign.
ECMC broke ground June 1, 2018 for its future state-of-the-art Trauma Center and Emergency Department, which, to date, has received $14.1 million in support from private philanthropic organizations and individuals, as well as ECMC Board members, Executive Leadership, hospital clinicians and support staff.
Ricardo Azevedo, Tim Hortons US President, said, “Every year we’re glad to support our local communities through the annual Smile Cookie program. Our restaurant owners and guests across the U.S. can feel good about eating one of our delicious smile cookies, while supporting their local communities, organizations, and charities – like the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation – through the Smile Cookie program.”
ECMC Corporation President and CEO Thomas J. Quatroche Jr., PhD, said, “We are grateful to Tim Hortons for their very generous support of ECMC’s Level 1 Adult Trauma and Emergency Department capital project once again this year. When completed in 2020, ECMC’s new facility will enhance and strengthen our dedicated Emergency Department caregivers’ ability to provide lifesaving care, creating more stories of hope and healing for years to come. Support from corporate partners like Tim Hortons, with such positive and well-established brand recognition, reinforces the essential role ECMC plays throughout our region for the health and safety of our friends, neighbors and family members.”
ECMC’s future $55 million Trauma and Emergency Department will double the size of the existing 40-year old facility and feature state-of-the-art technology and equipment. Originally opened in 1978 to accommodate 45,000 patients annually, the current facility processed 70,110 patients in 2018, and patient volumes are expected to reach over 75,000 annually by 2024.
The existing Emergency Department main entrance is accessed only by a ramp, which does not meet current accessibility codes and creates safety risks for patients and staff. It is located in functionally obsolete space in need of modernization to align with current and future standards of care for emergency medicine and to support improved quality of care and operational efficiency. A 2014 operational assessment indicates that, on average, 12 hours each day, the existing Emergency Department is operating over capacity.
The new facility, designed by CannonDesign and being built by The Pike Company, nearly doubles facility square footage to 54,000sf and will increase treatment space from 36 to 54 stations including 4 dedicated trauma rooms, 2 behavioral health safe rooms, 2 isolation rooms, and 4 medical resuscitation rooms. It features intradepartmental imaging consisting of 2 CT rooms and 2 x-ray rooms, direct access from the hospital’s rooftop helipad, and a care initiation zone to support an enhanced triage model of care.
ECMC’s new Trauma and Emergency Department will address an important community need by expanding the health care delivery system’s capacity to serve patients that require emergency medical attention, serve as a referral source for other area hospitals to transfer patients that require specialized emergency care, advance ECMC’s engagement and investment in the City of Buffalo’s Delevan-Grider Corridor, and build on ECMC’s growing and dynamic relationship with the State University of New York at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the Kaleida Health System.
ABOUT TIM HORTONS®: Tim Hortons®, part of Restaurant Brands International, is one of North America’s largest restaurant chains operating in the quick service segment. Founded as a single location in Canada in 1964, Tim Hortons appeals to a broad range of guest tastes, with a menu that includes premium coffee, hot and cold specialty drinks (including lattes, cappuccinos and espresso shots), specialty teas and fruit smoothies, fresh baked goods, grilled Panini and classic sandwiches, wraps, soups, prepared foods and other food products. Tim Hortons has more than 4,700 system wide restaurants located in Canada, the United States and around the world. More information about the company is available at www.timhortons.com.
ABOUT ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER (ECMC) CORPORATION: The ECMC Corporation was established as a New York State Public Benefit Corporation and since 2004 has included an advanced academic medical center with 573 inpatient beds, on- and off-campus health centers, more than 30 outpatient specialty care services and Terrace View, a 390-bed long-term care facility. ECMC is Western New York’s only Level 1 Adult Trauma Center, as well as a regional center for burn care, behavioral health services, transplantation, medical oncology and head & neck cancer care, rehabilitation and a major teaching facility for the University at Buffalo. Most ECMC physicians, dentists and pharmacists are dedicated faculty members of the university and/or members of a private practice plan. More Western New York residents are choosing ECMC for exceptional patient care and patient experiences – the difference between healthcare and true care™.