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Bank gives $250K for AJH renovation

9/11/2015

 
By Dyke Hendrickson | Newburyport Daily News  September 11, 2015

NEWBURYPORT — The Newburyport Five Cents Savings bank has donated $250,000 to the Birth Center patient room renovation program at Anna Jaques Hospital, in an act of philanthropy that might be traced back all the way to 1854.

Janice Morse, CEO and president of the bank, said that the bank was actually started in part to help children in that founding year.

“We feel that helping with the Birth Center goes back to our roots,” said Morse, who was born at Anna Jaques. “Going back to our opening, it was started as a bank to help children.


“Managers permitted children to open accounts with as little as 5 cents, while competitors were requiring $1 to $3,” she added. “We’ve always had a focus on children, and our donation continues our interest in young people.”

This summer, the first few rooms of about a dozen at the Birth Center were renovated.

Rooms are private, so parents, baby, family members and friends can have personal time.

Upgraded rooms feature air-conditioning, an updated bathroom with porcelain tiled floor and shower, and more storage space.

Hospital officials say enhanced rooms will have new windows, new floors, a flat-screen TV and expanded shelving as part of the $1.2 million project.

“We want to bring more patients to our campus, and we want them to have a great experience,” said Mark Goldstein, CEO and president.


“Anna Jaques is thankful for the continued leadership and generosity of Janice Morse and the bank,” he added. “The community’s support of the Birth Center has been outstanding.”

Hospital officials said that the bank has been a major contributor to the hospital for many years.

The bank made a pledge of $1 million to the hospital in 2010 with a gift to name the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Inpatient Unit.

Outside the Birth Center, a sign will hang reading, “AJH Birth Center Given by the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank.”

David LaFlamme, chairman of the AJH board, said, “Hospitals operate on a small margin, and we need philanthropy so that we can continue to upgrade and improve. This generous gift from the bank will help us continue to offer better health care.”

Morse noted that all of her eight siblings were born at the hospital as well.

“There were nine of us,” she said. “My mother would be very proud.”


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