By Michael Howell
The sports physical exam program sponsored by Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital drew 271 student athletes who paid $25 each for their physical examinations. The exams are required to participate in school athletics. What makes the program unique is that the doctors donate their time and the exam fee is returned to each of the schools for use in their athletic programs. This year the hospital handed out checks totaling $6,670 to the county’s various school superintendents.
“The first night was slow, but the second day was a gate buster,” said the hospital’s Public Relations Director, Amy James-Linton.
Darby High Schooler Breanna Brickey, who participates in volleyball, basketball, tennis and cheerleading, said she was very happy that the cost of the exam was going to go back to her school. Her father echoed her statement, saying that he was very pleased to know that the money they were spending for the physical would be going back to the athletic department.
“It’s a great thing for the kids,” he said.
Hospital board member Bill Bean said, “Everything we do at the hospital is for the community.” He said the hospital enjoys a lot of community support, “and we give back.”
The hospital’s Foundation has also recently launched a fundraising initiative aimed at raising $3.2 million to build a new state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit.
The old ICU was constructed in 1975 and consists of three beds crammed into a 492 square foot space. The number of patients using the ICU doubled from 160 patients in 2010 to 320 in 2012. Those numbers are expected to double again by 2014.
Plans call for construction of 3,200 square foot facility with five beds, each in its own private room. So far the Daly Hospital Foundation has raised $1.6 million. The hope is to have the new facility completed as soon as possible.