Pfriem Foundation provides major support for Bridgeport Hospital

Bridgeport Hospital Primary Care Center Medical Assistant Fanny Andujar provides assistance to connect patients with community resources.

BRIDGEPORT, CT (Oct. 4, 2021) – When vulnerable Bridgeport Hospital patients were seeking to connect with local community resources, Bridgeport Hospital Primary Care Center Medical Assistant Fanny Andujar, who trained as a community health worker, was able to step forward to provide immediate assistance.

One of the hospital’s major partners, the Elizabeth M. Pfriem Foundation, a leader in supporting care coordination and chronic care management at Bridgeport Hospital’s Primary Care Center, announced a $250,000 Challenge Grant. This transformational gift is to encourage other donors in the community to support the Primary Care Center’s new Health Maintenance and Preventive Care Program. The focus of this new program is to lower the barriers of care for the underserved by connecting them to local resources to improve the rate of breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screenings for early detection. The Pfriem Foundation grant will help increase the rate of the lifesaving screenings at Bridgeport’s Primary Care Center.

The goal of the program is to save lives and detect disease early when it is most treatable. A past publisher of the Connecticut Post, Elizabeth “Betty” Pfriem was the only female Barnum Festival Ringmaster in its over 70-year history. She was renowned as an extremely caring and visionary philanthropist, having positive impact on countless lives in the community. Her focus and insight brought joy and empowerment to many women. Her extraordinary and longtime support of Bridgeport Hospital resulted in major improvements in Neonatal Intensive Care, the Cardiology Hybrid Operating Suite, Emergency Department and other technology, resulting in both improved patient outcomes and quality of life for patients and their families.

Fanny enjoys connecting Bridgeport Hospital and community resources to families who need help. “Bridgeport Hospital gave me the opportunity to train as a community health worker and become a patient navigator,” she said. “With Pfriem Foundation resources, I am part of a team dedicated to lifting barriers to receive lifesaving cancer detection screenings.”

Primary Care Center Medical Director Manisha Gupta, MD, added, “Dealing with our patients’ complex needs requires so much more than providing medical care. We must also address their social needs and care for the patent in a broader, holistic way. Our patients experience improved well-being as their health and other needs are addressed. We are keeping patients out of the hospital and from seeking emergency care as their health improves.”

To assist with a donation, please visit the website donation page at bit.ly/pcc-donate or call Bridgeport Hospital Foundation at 203-688-2231.

Bridgeport Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit 501-bed acute care hospital with two campuses (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital). Its Bridgeport and Milford Campuses serve patients from across the region. The hospital admits more than 23,000 patients and provides nearly 350,000 outpatient treatments annually. The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the only burn center in the state and one of only 64 verified burn centers in the United States. Bridgeport Hospital is committed to providing safe, compassionate and cost efficient care to its patients and the community. www.bridgeporthospital.org