Radiology Associates of Ridgewood and Valley Emergency Room Associates Newest Physician Supporters to Campaign

12/21/2021

When The Valley Hospital in Paramus opens its doors at the end of 2023, it will count many of its own medical staff among its Leadership Donors. With a diverse group of physicians represented across many different specialties, there is a commonality in the "why" behind these generous commitments to the new hospital. "Valley," explains Dr. George Becker of Valley Emergency Room Associates, "has always supported us. This is our chance to support the hospital."

"Support of The Valley Hospital in Paramus supports the future of healthcare in the region," states Dr. Erwin Lin of Radiology Associates of Ridgewood (RAR). The group is the sole provider of inpatient and outpatient imaging services throughout Valley Health System. A partner to the hospital since 1970, its doctors have seen both healthcare, and Valley itself, evolve. What has remained constant, however, is RAR's focus on providing top level radiological care to the community, and their commitment to the hospital. "We believe in the mission of Valley, and want to contribute however we can to ensure its success," Dr. Lin continues. "The opportunity to build a new hospital that is designed for medical care in the next century is unique and will be a great thing for our community."

In building The Valley Hospital in Paramus, flexibility for the future has been a principal consideration. For the doctors of RAR, the new hospital's coordinated interventional platform will help break down walls between surgical and non-surgical interventions. By design, diagnostic imaging will be adjacent to the emergency department and the OR on the floor above, reducing patient transport time and improving care quality. To deliver the best, most coordinated and efficient patient care, a hybrid OR-MRI suite will be equipped with advanced medical imaging devices. These are just a handful of reasons the group looks to The Valley Hospital in Paramus with excited anticipation. As a steadfast supporter of Valley and Lifetime Benefactor, Radiology Associates of Ridgewood stepped forward early in the campaign to commit $500,000 to name a computerized tomography (CT) suite at the new hospital. For more than 25 years, RAR's generosity has made an impact on a multitude of areas throughout the health system. Their gift is now part of the group’s long history of philanthropy towards The Valley Hospital Foundation.

Valley Emergency Room Associates (VERA) oversees the full-service emergency department (ED) at The Valley Hospital. Formed in 1986, VERA's physicians have long been involved with many facets of hospital operations, both in the ED, and with the organization as a whole. The last 19 months have seen the group at the forefront of the COVID-19 response at the hospital, while also seeing a decrease in "traditional" emergency room visits by patients who were worried about coming to the hospital. Even so, the group felt it important to make a philanthropic commitment to The Valley Hospital in Paramus, and in doing so, to Valley's future. "We feel that Valley is an organization constantly striving for improvement, and we have supported those goals in clinical care, customer care, and reliability with our efforts. We made the decision to step up our giving because this is an exceptional project. The new hospital is an improvement in infrastructure that requires not just effort, but also financial support," says VERA's Dr. Marc Dreier.

A longtime supporter and Lifetime Benefactor of The Valley Hospital Foundation, their generous $500,000 gift will name the Rapid Decision Unit in the new hospital's ED. Explains Dr. Becker, "We've always felt it's critical to support the hospital and the Foundation. The first generation of doctors to run our group was very intentional about giving, and instilled in us how important that was. It is because of donor support that these things can move forward." The vastly expanded ED at The Valley Hospital in Paramus will feature 72 individual treatment rooms, almost doubling capacity from the current 39 patient rooms. The expanded room size will facilitate in-room testing and diagnostic procedures, as well as allow for extra space for families. For VERA's doctors, the new first-class facilities will help the group continue their first-class care for generations to come.