Contact: Debra Thompson 
Director, RMH Corporate Communications 
540-564-5886

“Women for Generations” Campaign Launches to Raise $1.75 Million for Center

RMH plans to break ground in early 2012 on a new women’s center that will be situated on the hospital’s health campus, hospital officials announced today.

The one-story, 14,000 square foot facility will be larger than the current space being leased for the RMH Women’s Center on Reservoir Street in Harrisonburg, and will consolidate many services into one location.

“As our services, and the demand for them, have grown, we have realized the need for additional space,” said Teresa Boshart Yoder, director of Women’s Services for RMH. “The new center will allow us to expand our breast health clinic, offer a variety of educational opportunities, and provide convenient access to other services on the health campus that a woman might need.”

The new center will house women’s imaging, including advanced breast imaging/mammography and bone density screening; RMH Breast Care and the office of Dr. Heidi Rafferty; the Image Recovery Center; RMH Heart Check (for both men and women), and more, Yoder said.

“This specially designed center will help us to deliver an even higher level of care and customer service to our patients,” noted Yoder. “The new Women’s Center also will move us a giant step closer to providing the full-spectrum of breast care.”

The center will be constructed on the southeastern side of the campus, easily accessible from the Port Republic Road entrance. It is expected to cost around $6 million. It will be named the RMH Funkhouser Women’s Center in honor of a $2 million gift from the Fred O. Funkhouser Foundation to help fund construction of the center.

“Our family is happy to be able to continue its support of RMH as my mom and dad did for many years, including the Virginia Funkhouser Health Sciences Library,” said Jan Funkhouser Scaglione, daughter of Fred and Virginia Funkhouser. “I think my parents would be proud to support this project because of the services it will provide to the many women of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham community. My mother, an RN, would be especially thrilled as she was a 1934 graduate of the RMH School of Nursing. I know the community will come forward with the same generous spirit to support this well-deserved center on behalf of the generations for women who will use it.”

A capital campaign, “Women for Generations,” has been launched to raise $1.75 million to help support the construction project.

“The capital campaign committee members are excited about this new facility that will meet the unique healthcare needs of women in our community,” said Bonnie Paul, campaign co-chair along with Louise Hostetter. “This facility will provide a comprehensive approach to women’s health in a beautiful, comforting, homelike setting. The funds raised will help ensure that the Women’s Center will have ample space for educational offerings and gatherings of interest to women and families.”

Paul noted that the funds raised also will ensure that the Women’s Center has space to house the Image Recovery Center®, which offers a variety of products and services to those dealing with appearance issues as a result of disease, injury or treatment.

The remainder of the project will be funded by a capital commitment made by Sentara Healthcare as part of its recent merger agreement with RMH.

The center is slated to open in spring 2013.

“We are delighted to be able to build this new center to meet the diverse and important health needs of women in our community,” said Yoder. “We look forward to partnering with many in the community who will want to support the Women for Generations campaign on behalf of the mothers, wives, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, granddaughters and other important women in their lives—including themselves.”

For more information about the Women for Generations campaign, contact Sherrill Glanzer, RMH Foundation, at 564-7028.