Lockport Memorial Hospital nets grants totaling over $4 million

Recognizing the importance of pre-serving quality health care in eastern Niagara County, several local foundations, community groups and private donors have stepped forward to provide more than $4 million to support the new Lockport Memorial Hospital, a campus of Mount St. Mary’s Hospital.

Located in the Town of Lockport off South Transit and Shimer roads, Catholic Health broke ground on the “neighborhood hospital” in November and expects it to open in summer of 2023.

Awards from Grigg Lewis Foundation, The John R. Oishei Foundation, M&T Bank, Verizon Media Community Benefit Fund for Lockport, The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Collins Family Foundation and Lawley are providing a combined total of nearly $2.4 million in grant funding for the hospital, in addition to previously announced grant awards of $1 million from Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and $500,000 from KeyBank in partnership with First Niagara Foundation.

Community groups have been raising donations and sponsoring fundraising events to support the Lockport Memorial Hospital campaign. The Women’s Guild of Eastern Niagara donated $100,000, and the Women’s Benefit Ball – held this past October – raised $10,000.

“We are so appreciative for the community’s support; whether a foundation, local donor or private group, we are beyond grateful for the community’s generosity and trust in our vision to sustain quality health care in eastern Niagara County,” said Joyce Markiewicz, Catholic Health executive vice president and chief business development officer. “These philanthropic dollars will assist us not only in building our neighborhood hospital, but also in building a stronger, healthier community.”

A press release noted, “The neighborhood hospital model creates a hospital that is right-sized for the local community, featuring state-of-the-art emergency, inpatient medical, imaging and laboratory services, as well as office space for primary care, women’s health, and other specialty medical practices.”

“Construction is underway on this exciting project,” Markiewicz added. “We will continue to keep our donors and the local community updated as the new Lockport Memorial Hospital begins to take shape.”

Rendering courtesy of Catholic Health

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Those interested in donating to Lockport Memorial Hospital campaign may do so by visiting www.chsbuffalo.org/lmhcc or by calling the Mount St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation at 716-298-2143. Philanthropic contributions are supporting the project in addition to state and federal funding and Catholic Health’s corporate investment.

Catholic Health first unveiled plans to build the 60,000-square-foot hospital in October 2020, after Eastern Niagara Hospital entered into a management agreement with the health system. The new hospital will preserve access to needed medical care for more than 80,000 residents across the region.

To prevent gaps in care, Eastern Niagara will remain open until the new hospital is completed.