Editing Helen Hayes (section)

== Helen Hayes Hospital ==
[[File:Helen Hayes and young patient at Helen Hayes Hospital 1945.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Hayes and a young patient at [[Helen Hayes Hospital]] 1945]]

According to her daughter-in-law, HB MacArthur, Hayes took the most pride in her philanthropic work with [[Helen Hayes Hospital]], a physical rehabilitation hospital located in [[West Haverstraw]], New York. She was extremely proud of the strides the hospital made toward the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, saying: "I've seen my name in lights on theater marquees and in letters 20 feet tall on Broadway billboards, but nothing has ever given me greater sense of pride and satisfaction than my 49-year association with this unique hospital."<ref name="rockland.lohudblogs.com">{{Cite web|url=http://rockland.lohudblogs.com/2009/11/06/pretty-penny-to-host-helen-hayes-hospital-fundraiser/|title=Pretty Penny to host Helen Hayes Hospital fundraiser – Lohud Rockland Blog|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322020040/http://rockland.lohudblogs.com/2009/11/06/pretty-penny-to-host-helen-hayes-hospital-fundraiser/|archive-date=March 22, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Helen Hayes MacArthur on the grounds of Helen Hayes Hospital in the 1950s.jpg|thumb|Hayes at Helen Hayes Hospital in the 1950s]]
Hayes became involved with the hospital in the 1940s and was named to the Board of Visitors in 1944. In 1974, the hospital was renamed in her honor. She served on the Helen Hayes Hospital Board of Visitors for 49 years, until her death in 1993. In that time, she advocated tirelessly for the hospital and successfully led a fight to prevent its relocation to Albany in the 1960s. In the 1970s, she was instrumental in lobbying for funding to transform the hospital into a state-of-the-art facility.

Hayes also contributed her enthusiastic support to hospital events and fund-raising efforts, including handing out diplomas to the children upon graduation when the hospital was still a pediatric care facility. She also faithfully attended the hospital's annual Classic Race, leading it in a classic car, handing out awards to runners, hand cyclists, and wheelchair racers, and offering the use of her home, Pretty Penny, for a dinner to launch the hospital's endowment fund.<ref name="rockland.lohudblogs.com" />