Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center employees recently donated $200,000 to two of the hospital’s major services through its Getting Involved for Tomorrow (GIFT) program, an employee giving program.

The $200,000 donation will be split evenly to support the Magill-Miller Advanced Heart Failure Clinic and the Community Care Clinic.

The hospital’s GIFT program allows employees to make charitable donations through payroll deductions. A portion of GIFT donations support departmental grants and an employee disaster relief program, but the majority of GIFT funds support major hospital projects.

“The GIFT program is a special way for our employees to give back to the community they live in and work in,” said Tiffany Burrows, business development liaison at Piedmont Athens Regional who manages the hospital’s GIFT program. “These donations support both the health of our community and the expansion of our services to those in need.”

According to Burrows, $100,000 of the GIFT donation will be for The Magill-Miller Advanced Heart Failure Clinic, a clinic led by Piedmont Heart Institute of Athens heart failure specialist and cardiologist Catherine Marti, M.D. This clinic provides specialized care to people at all stages of heart failure.

Named after two of the first Athens-area cardiologists, the clinic uses advanced diagnostic and treatment services to provide personalized care plans for each patient.

The donation will assist the clinic in expanding its services, including the addition of digital educational resources, new state-of-the-art equipment, and new tools, such as a demonstration kitchen to help heart failure patients make healthy lifestyle changes.

“Heart failure is a common disease, affecting around one in five people in the United States, and results in significant morbidity and mortality” said Dr. Marti, the only board-certified heart failure specialist in the area. “We are very thankful for this generous donation, as it allows us to offer more services to our many patients. It is especially meaningful coming from the employees of the hospital, who recognize the impact that the Magill-Miller Advance Heart Failure clinic has on our community.”

Piedmont Athens Regional’s Community Care Clinic also received $100,000, which will benefit the clinic’s medication assistance program, ensuring that patients can receive necessary medications regardless of their ability to pay.

The clinic first opened its doors in 2016 and serves all patient, including underinsured and uninsured patients. It’s run by medical resident physicians from the hospital’s Graduate Medical Education Program, who see patients while working under supervision of faculty.

Clinic services are for people 18 years of age and older and include regular check-up visits, sick visits, immunizations/vaccinations, and management of chronic diseases, as well as specialty services, such as ophthalmology, endocrinology, pulmonology, nephrology, hematology, infectious disease, and geriatric services. Patients who are uninsured or underinsured also have the opportunity to meet with the clinic’s full-time financial counselor, and the clinic is supported by the Piedmont Athens Regional Foundation.

“These services rely on support from the community, which includes the many employees of our hospital,” said Catherine Apaloo, M.D., designated institutional official for Piedmont Athens Regional’s GME program. “We’re so grateful for the generosity of our staff in helping us ensure we continue to meet the needs of the communities we serve at our Community Care Clinic.”