Winchester Hospital News

Since March, we have been bolstered by your gifts, cards, kind words, and treats – we are blessed to be part of the Winchester community. To date, our generous donors have given nearly 700 gifts totaling more than $342,000 that we have used to support our staff.

Sue Powers, RNMS, distinctly remembers her discomfort when her mother was undergoing treatment for breast cancer almost 20 years ago and couldn’t find a comfortable bra.  “We had nowhere to turn for help,” Sue said, “so I decided that I would find a way to create a safe space for women to shop for bras, wigs, and other items that would help them while undergoing cancer treatments.”

Although COVID-19 cancelled the annual golf tournament that supports the James F. McDonough, MD, Fund for Nursing Education, the Winchester community, corporate supporters and individuals donated over $111,000 so that Winchester Hospital could continue to develop and educate nurses. For many donors, their gift was a tangible way to thank all of the nurses who have risked and continue to risk their lives caring for COVID-19 patients.

To celebrate Rose Westra’s 50 years of volunteer service, her 100th birthday and her commitment to the hospital, her family made a gift to renovate the office. For Rose, it was the perfect birthday present.

The sound of Christmas music filled Studio on the Common in Winchester the last week in August as the Winton Club held their 4th annual “Christmas in August” event. The event looked a bit different due to COVID-19 precautions, but the club members worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure safety for guests and the Studio staff. 

Baking and decorating cupcakes was not how Allie Soper from Winchester planned to spend her summer. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and she had to leave college in Pennsylvania, she wanted to find her own way to help fight the coronavirus and flatten the curve. So Soper started selling cupcakes to raise money for Winchester Hospital.

Everyone who walks through the doors of Winchester Hospital will know Robby Robertson’s name, thanks to the new memorial outside the hospital’s East Entrance. 

The annual James F. McDonough, MD, Golf Classic planned for September 14 will not be held this year because of the COVID-19 public health emergency. But the need for the funds it would have raised for nursing education is greater than ever in a time where healthcare workers are on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Change had been piling up in Aanya Naik’s piggy bank since she was four years old. Now 9, Aanya, whose first name means “unique” and last name means “hero,” has grown up to be just that. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, she has watched the news religiously, hoping to find a way to help. She decided that she wanted to donate her $30 in savings to Winchester Hospital.

Driving home after a 12-hour shift treating COVID-19 patients at Winchester Hospital in early May, Alexa Sequeira, BSN, RN, thought her work was done for the day. But when she came upon a crash scene on the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester and didn’t see any Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), she knew she had to help.