Community Medical Center (CMC), an RWJBarnabas Health (RWJBH) facility, has announced the donation of a $5 million gift, given by local philanthropist Edele Hovnanian on behalf of H. Hovnanian Family Foundation. It is the largest individual gift in the hospital's history. The gift will support capital renovations to the Emergency Department at Community Medical Center.
“We are so grateful to Edele and the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation for their generous contribution to our Emergency Department renovations,” said Patrick Ahearn, Chief Executive Officer, Community Medical Center. “This gift will help ensure that our community has increased access to care when they need it most and will play a vital role in bettering the health and well-being of Ocean County residents.”
“The Emergency Department benefits the entire community and is like the doorway to the hospital in many respects,” Ms. Hovnanian said. “We proudly support CMC’s Emergency Department putting its best foot forward. I’ve been very positively impressed with CMC’s vision and have absolute faith that the hospital is laying the foundation for what central New Jersey needs in terms of acute care.”
Ms. Hovnanian serves as President of Hovsons Inc., the company her father, Hirair, founded, and heads the H. Hovnanian Family Foundation. She and her four siblings learned at an early age from her father and her mother, Anna, how to think strategically about finances as well as leverage personal success to develop and support charitable causes and the local community.
“When my dad came to the United States from Armenia in 1951 to pursue higher education, he settled in the Toms River area after graduating from Villanova University,” said Ms. Hovnanian. “Central New Jersey is where our family has been since that day. CMC is the hospital many people use, and it’s an obvious place for us to give back to the community.”
Following her father’s example, Ms. Hovnanian doesn’t treat philanthropy differently from business. She evaluates the overall impact of a donation on the community using the business acumen she learned from working alongside her father to discern where philanthropy will have the biggest impact.
Supporting CMC’s state-of-the-art Emergency Department renovations met all the criteria. When completed, the $37 million upgrade—already partially finished—will transform the department. The renovated ED will include features such as air filtration and individual rooms with glass walls to prevent germs from spreading, efficient patient flow design, and at-hand access to tests such as CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds.
To learn more about supporting Community Medical Center, call 732.557.8131 or visit www.cmcgiving.org.