A note from Jennifer Clifford

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What a remarkable year.

I mean that in every possible sense of the word. It was remarkable in its share of unprecedented challenges and remarkable in our community’s generous response to the rapidly changing needs of our hard-working team at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center.

Alex detailed a few standout milestones and achievements from 2020, and they are indeed cause for celebration. Despite a year that taxed our healthcare professionals more than ever before, we were able to provide resources where they were needed, to bring more leading-edge services to our community and to make our voices heard on issues that matter deeply to the patients and families we serve. Your support was vital in making all of that possible.

I was also struck by how many of you reached out to ensure other important areas of our work could continue amid the global pandemic. In the early days of COVID-19, one donor called to make a generous donation to Caroline’s Corner, a collaboration with the Comly family and the Ronald McDonald House that brings a new family respite room to Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital. A few days later, another donor family reached out to ensure the Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center neurology department had enough funding to continue its important work in preventing and treating strokes.

In addition to your contributions, I also continue to be humbled by your outpouring of support. One morning, I looked out the window of my office inside the Belk House and saw a beautiful message, written in sidewalk chalk, thanking our team members for their work. A few days later, a teenage cancer patient showed up at my office, her arms full of stuffed bears — a gift for all the patients who couldn’t see their families.

These are just a few examples of what I experienced almost every day of 2020, thanks to our remarkable community of donors. You know the care we provide, and you have graciously offered whatever you could to ensure that remarkable care continues. On behalf of our entire team at Presbyterian Medical Center Foundation, thank you. It is an honor to know you and to help your gifts create profound impact across our community.

We know there are many more challenges ahead, and we also know we can handle all of it, with you at our side.

Jennifer Clifford
Chief philanthropy officer
Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center Foundation