Bennington Police Department Donates Fundraiser Proceeds to the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center

Left to right: Bennington Police Chief Paul Doucette; Jennifer Coutu, RN; Matthew Vernon, MD; Charlene Ives, MD, medical director of the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center; Scott Legacy, president of the Bennington Police Association; Cam Grande; and Thomas A. Dee, FACHE, president and CEO of Southwestern Vermont Health Care

BENNINGTON, VT—September 22, 2021—Members of the Bennington Police Department gathered to make a donation to the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center Wednesday, September 15. The Police Department raised $2,850 during a cancer awareness fundraiser last year.

“We are happy to provide these funds for equipment and supplies at the Cancer Center,” Chief Doucette said. “Many members of the Department have friends or family members that have been affected by cancer and felt this was a positive way to give back to the community, as well as showing support for all patients at the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center. ”

The funds were raised by selling pink t-shirts and patches to department personnel and members of the public. Civilian staff could pay to wear the t-shirts to work on Fridays throughout the few months of the fundraiser. In addition, officers could pay to grow facial hair. A department policy that prohibits growing facial hair was suspended temporarily for the purposes of the fundraiser.

“On behalf of our patients and staff, we’d like to thank the Bennington Police Department for this generous donation.” said Charlene Ives, MD, medical director of the Cancer Center. “It is remarkable that this support should come from our local police officers and police department staff, because they already do so much valuable work in service to the public every day. We are so grateful.”

President and CEO Thomas A. Dee, FACHE, added, “The Bennington Police Department has always been a fantastic partner for the health system. This donation is another example of their community-minded approach and their genuine care for the people they serve.”

About SVRCC:
The SVRCC is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, a distinction granted to only the top 25 percent of cancer centers nationwide. In addition, 100 percent of its nurses are oncology certified. The care patients receive at the SVRCC is enhanced through an affiliation with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock, home of one of only three National Cancer Institute-Designated comprehensive cancer centers in New England.

About The Bennington Police Department: The Bennington Police Department is the first chartered municipal police department in the State of Vermont and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2006. Today, the Bennington Police Department is a full-service law enforcement agency of 40 sworn and non-sworn individuals dedicated to providing the best in public safety and service to the communities of Bennington, North Bennington and Old Bennington. The Bennington Police Department is accountable to the Community for providing everyone, regardless of identity, with respectful and equitable law enforcement, protection, and service. The Department and the community achieve this through collaborative and positive relationships, which contribute to the betterment of quality of life. 

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.
 
SVMC has earned several prominent distinctions. Most recently, SVMC received the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Award for transformational change in efforts toward healthcare reform and its fifth consecutive designation within the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. It ranked fourth in the nation for healthcare value by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index in 2020 and is one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work. SVMC earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group for two years in a row. During the pandemic, SVMC and both its skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Hoosick Falls, earned perfect scores on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation meant to determine the ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infections.
 
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.