For Greg Smith, philanthropy goes well beyond simply giving money.
“It”™s not necessarily what the dollar amount is,” the founder, president and CEO of Maplewood Senior Living told the Business Journal. “It”™s also about leaving a legacy, how you can help make a difference. That”™s at the crux of my getting into senior housing ”” the opportunity to profoundly change a person”™s life and those of their family.
“The messaging in something like this,” he continued, “is about showing a commitment to the community and giving back to the community. That’s what”™s really important.”
The “this” is the largest expansion in Norwalk Hospital”™s 128-year history. Due to begin next year, the estimated $224 million project will include replacing the facility”™s Community Pavilion, built in 1953, and its Tracey Pavilion, which was completed in 1918 during the Woodrow Wilson administration.
In their place will be a 7-story, 180,000-square-foot pavilion on the southeast corner of the hospital”™s campus, with a modern design relying on natural light and other measures to provide what Peter Cordeau, the hospital”™s president, said will be a more comfortable and soothing environment for patients and staff alike.
The new pavilion will also be attached to Norwalk”™s Main and McGraw Pavilions. Significant additions include a new intensive care unit and step-down unit, as well as a new labor and delivery unit and a mother and infant unit, upgrades that Cordeau said the hospital”™s OB team has been seeking for years.
The mother and infant unit will include 17 private rooms, a six-bassinet Well Baby Nursery and a neonatal (NICU) intensive care unit for premature and critically ill babies. The NICU will feature six high-touch, high-tech infant rooms.
Smith and George Bauer ”” both frequent benefactors of the Nuvance Health system”” are co-chairs of the fundraising committee for the new project.
“He”™s an incredible person ”” one of the most generous people I”™ve met in my life,” Smith said of Bauer. “He”™s kind of my mentor. When I was asked to co-chair, I said I”™d do it as long as George would co-chair with me.”
Smith said the philanthropic goal of raising $100 million for the project is, if anything, ahead of target, which he said simply illustrates how well the communities that Norwalk Hospital serves understand and appreciate its value.
The Smith/Bauer combination hopes to use the opportunity to “pass the baton on to the next generation of supports of health care in our communities,” he continued. “That”™s really important for me from a messaging standpoint, to set an example for others who can start to reshape the whole philanthropic landscape.”
Ultimately, the 52-year-old Smith said, “I want to get to a point where I”™m the George Bauer and someone else will be Greg Smith.”
He noted that there has long been a family connection with Nuvance, formerly the Western Connecticut Health Network. “My mother worked off and on at Danbury Hospital for almost 30 years, including in phlebotomy and marketing.”
Though his career began in the hospitality and professional office sectors, Smith said his mother encouraged him to take a look at a nursing home across the street from the hospital that was going out of business. Smith said he toyed with the idea of possibly turning the property into housing for residents at Danbury Hospital; although those plans fell through, a friend asked him to consider getting into the senior housing and assisted living space.
“I went in thinking of diversifying my portfolio,” he said. “I wound up buying the building and turning it into an assisted living facility, and now we have 19 and counting.”
What sets Maplewood and its luxury-wwassisted living brand InspÄ«r apart from competitors, he said, is “our focus on providing quality care with concierge services. We provide people with a home-like environment in a hospitality-type situation ”” best-in-class care in a discreet manner.”
Most Maplewood facilities ”” locations include Norwalk, where the company is headquartered, along with Bethel, Danbury, Darien, Newtown, Southport and Westport ”” cost between $30 and $50 million, he noted, while the InspÄ«r in Manhattan cost $340 million.
“Like with Nuvance, it”™s all about providing world-class care that”™s accessible,” Smith said. “It”™s really in their DNA.”
He credited, among others, Nuvance Health President and CEO Dr. John Murphy and Norwalk Hospital Foundation Chief Development Officer Grace Linhard for their vision and innovation in providing such value to the communities they serve.
“This is all about making something that will last,” he said.
