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Some news from May 19, with many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up. Meryl Streep has made an appeal for financial donations to help Sharon Hospital and its hard-hit Nuvance Health parent company recover from the coronavirus epidemic. “Our family has relied on Sharon Hospital for decades, for all sorts of emergencies, and I think that right now, at this important time, we need to thank the staff at Sharon Hospital,” Streep said in a 90-second video posted Tuesday on social media. “We also need to step up and support Nuvance Health.” Streep is the latest celebrity to help Sharon Hospital meet a $1 million matching grant for losses incurred fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. “As someone who is personally connected to the Sharon community, I’ve seen firsthand how courageous, dedicated, professional and resilient the clinical staff are at Nuvance Health hospitals,” actor Liam Neeson said in a video posted on social media in April. “Let’s show the Nuvance Health heroes how much we appreciate their devotion and commitment to patient care.” Nuvance is the $2 billion network of hospitals in Connecticut and New York that was at the center of the state’s fight against the coronavirus during the infection surge in April. The year-old health network, which also operates Danbury, New Milford and Norwalk hospitals, was stressed but not in crisis during the surge, with enough beds, staff and supplies to fight the virus. But Nuvance hospitals lost money when they suspended elective surgery to clear the deck for COVID-19 patients. Furloughed staff and increased coronavirus expenses deepened the network’s deficit. In response, Nuvance launched a $5 million philanthropy drive, and had raised over $3 million by early April, when billionaire philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik added another $1 million donation. The Hollywood-backed appeal for Sharon Hospital is separate. “An anonymous donor came to us and said, ‘If you can raise $1 million for Sharon Hospital, I will match it,’” Nuvance spokeswoman Andrea Rynn said.
