Million Dollar Homecoming at Upstate New York Hospital

January 27, 2017

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — In her 30-plus years living in Glens Falls, NY, the late Joyce Stock served as a nurse at Glens Falls Hospital, built one of the most popular restaurants in the area and, most importantly to her, raised three sons who share her philanthropic generosity.IMG_1533.JPG

Today, her eldest son, Bill, returned to Glens Falls to honor his mother’s memory and say thank you to his hometown with one of the largest philanthropic gifts in Glens Falls Hospital history — $1 million from the Bill and Joanne Stock Foundation toward a $5 million renovation project underway at The Snuggery family-centered birthing unit.

In appreciation for the gift, the hospital announced that the birthing unit will now be known as The Joyce Stock Snuggery at Glens Falls Hospital.

“Glens Falls Hospital is a vital part of our community. I am very impressed with the talented and dedicated staff, and I look forward to our new partnership,” said Mr. Stock, a 1979 graduate of Glens Falls High School who has gone on to a highly successful career as an engineer and entrepreneur and now lives Arizona. “As an independent hospital, operating in a largely rural area, the challenges are great, and they do a remarkable job. We believe this gift will make a sustainable difference for the hospital and for Glens Falls.”

Mr. Stock said the gift was inspired by his mother who worked as an RN in the hospital’s emergency and intensive care departments for approximately a decade before opening The Heidelberg Inn restaurant in Queensbury, NY, with her husband, Bill, in 1972. “She was always giving, and she imbued in us a desire to continue her philanthropy,” her son said. “This gift honors her memory, her character and her zest for life.”

Additionally, Mr. Stock said, “This community has had a major impact on my life both personally and professionally. I am fortunate to have had inspirational teachers, great role models, and so much support from family and friends. It is important to pay that back."

Upon graduating from Glens Falls High, Mr. Stock earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering from RPI and began a career in various management positions in the automotive industry. In 2005, he co-founded and became CEO of Chicago-based Power Stop, LLC, a leading supplier of branded performance aftermarket brake products.

After retiring in 2013, Bill and his wife, Joanne, established a nonprofit charity called the Bill and Joanne Stock Foundation.  The Foundation is a major sponsor of the One Darn Cool School at Phoenix Children's Hospital. "We are proud to support a full time teacher and provide assistive technology for our kids at PCH," Mr. Stock said.

“How fortunate we are that Bill Stock cares so deeply about his hometown,” said Glens Falls Hospital President & CEO Dianne Shugrue. “Since Bill first reached out to us in the fall of last year, I have had the pleasure of talking with him at length about his childhood here and the values that Joyce instilled in him. It is so incredibly fitting that this gift to The Snuggery is inspired by a son’s love for his mother.”

The Stocks’ gift brings the total raised for the Snuggery renovation to date to $2.24 million — shattering the fundraising goal of $1.25 million established in August 2016 and covering nearly half the total project cost of $5 million.

“Words cannot express how much Bill and Joanne’s gift means to our hospital and our community,” said Vice President of Philanthropy Cynthia Sherwood. “We hope that other families across the region will be inspired to join the Stocks in supporting this incredible birthing unit that is so much a part of so many families’ lives.”

Other major donors to the capital campaign include Stewart’s Shops and the Dake family at $250,000; The David S. and Janet R. Sheridan Foundation at $250,000; The Sandy Hill Foundation at $200,000; The Charles R. Wood Foundation at $100,000; and Philip H. and Susan K. Morse at $100,000.

The Snuggery renovation project is being performed in phases through the end of this year, and will include a complete remodeling of all patient rooms; relocation and expansion of the special care nursery; the creation of a new visitor waiting room; two new nurses stations; and reconfiguration and renovation of the unit’s hallways to improve traffic flow and provide easier, faster travel between patient rooms and the Snuggery operating rooms when unplanned cesarean sections are necessary.

At the time of its opening in 1985, Glens Falls Hospital was one of the first hospitals east of the Mississippi to offer single-room Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum care. Gone were the days when a woman went through labor in one room, moved to a delivery room for the birth, moved on to a recovery room and then to a regular inpatient hospital room. At The Snuggery, then as now, a woman and her family experience all phases of the birthing process in one private hospital room.

A variety of donor recognition opportunities are available for the renovation project. Families or businesses interested in these opportunities are asked to call the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation at (518) 926-5960. Donations for the future of The Snuggery can be made at www.glensfallshospital.org or by sending a check to Glens Falls Hospital Foundation, 126 South St., Glens Falls, NY 12801, Attn: The Snuggery.

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