The Norma F. Pfriem Foundation recently presented an annual grant of $2 million to support the programs and services of the Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute and Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center at Bridgeport Hospital.
“As Bridgeport Hospital’s new president and CEO, I have been delighted to learn about the long tradition of support which has allowed the hospital to deliver the safest, most advanced and compassionate care to our patients,” William M. Jennings, who became the hospital’s chief administrator on Oct. 1, said in a statement.
“The late Norma Pfriem and the Norma Pfriem Foundation have been an integral part of that tradition.”
During the past year, the Pfriem Foundation gift aided Bridgeport Hospital in constructing a new outpatient chemotherapy suite, the statement said. Also, the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center location at the hospital received a new digital mammography suite, it said.
An earlier gift from the Norma F. Pfriem Foundation resulted in the renaming of Bridgeport Hospital’s cancer program as the Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute, the statement said. "The new name also signaled a widening focus, including participation in more clinical trials, the creation of new cancer centers of excellence for gastrointestinal, gentiourological, gynecological and thoracic cancers, as well as the expansion of patient and family support initiatives," the statement said.
The sister of late Bridgeport Post (later Connecticut Post) publisher John Pfriem, Norma Pfriem was inspired to support Bridgeport Hospital’s cancer services by the care her brother received in the 1980s.
Over the years, Norma Pfriem’s gifts to the hospital have led to many improvements in cancer services, including enhancements to Bridgeport Hospital’s oncology patient unit in 1994 and the establishment of the Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center in 1999.
The Breast Care Center now has locations at Bridgeport Hospital and at 111 Beach Road in Fairfield, the statement said.