Hundreds of supporters, friends and colleagues joined Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health in Sleepy Hollow Friday, Oct. 22 for its 34th annual Champagne Ball, which was presented virtually. The evening, which celebrated Westchester business leader and philanthropist Thomas E. Hales with a special posthumous tribute, raised more than $640,000.
A Westchester native, Hales was highly regarded as the leader of Union State Bank. Under his direction, the bank grew from $23 million to more than $3 billion in assets. Hales and his wife, Alice Marie, were also compassionate philanthropists who contributed to numerous organizations, including major support for the Thomas E. and Alice M. Hales Endoscopy Unit and the Alice Marie and Thomas E. Hales Pediatric Treatment Area of the Emergency Department at Phelps Hospital, Northwell Health.
“Phelps was a very special part of my parents”™ lives,” said Lianne Hales Dugan, Hales”™ daughter and co-chair of the Champagne Ball. “My dad and mom grew up in the Tarrytowns. Their six children were born here at the hospital, as well as some of their grandchildren. Phelps was a huge part of their lives. And what Phelps did for my dad after his lung transplant ”“ they kept him alive for 12 years. We had attention from the most wonderful people, you would have thought they were taking care of their own parents. If there”™s one word to describe Phelps, it”™s family. When you need them, they”™re there?”
Another highlight of the Champagne Ball is its annual Fund-A-Cause, an effort Hales was always eager to support. This year, the evening raised funds for the Caregivers Center at Phelps Hospital. Launched virtually in 2020, the Phelps Hospital Caregivers Program provides emotional support, counseling and the resources to navigate the health care system. The new Caregivers Center will be a dedicated space in the hospital that offers caregivers access to social workers and nurses to help navigate their journey in a calming and comfortable environment.
Phelps Executive Director Eileen Egan, announced that the new center will be named “The Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Caregivers Center”¦”
Phelps Hospital, part of Northwell Health, is a full-service 238-bed acute care community hospital with more than 1,700 employees and 1,100 medical staff members representing 60 medical specialties. Northwell Health is New York state”™s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, 830 outpatient facilities and more than 16,600 affiliated physicians caring for over two million people annually.
