A new online feature on the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Web site helps patients and their families stay instantly in touch, lend support, and even post photos — but it also makes it easy to show appreciation for the Medical Center’s quality care, with a donation to the Alta Bates Summit Foundation.

Aptly dubbed CarePages, this tool allows patients or their loved ones to go to the Alta Bates Summit site and create their own unique Web page. Family-friendly instructions make it as simple as filling in a form online. Each CarePage is secure and password-protected so its creator can control who visits. The feature is free and available in English and Spanish.

There’s also an added benefit for the Medical Center. Once a CarePage is created, two clicks facilitate contributions: the Ways to Give button near the top of the page (similar to the link on the Medical Center’s site) and the Support the Alta Bates Summit Foundation With a Donation link on the side. This is a great way to give a gift in honor of a special person who provided the patient with special care.

Be sure to spread the word about this new online tool. While you’re at it, remind everyone that CarePages can be set up right at Alta Bates Summit, using computer kiosks in the Family Resource Centers (Merritt and Providence pavilions), which were financed by Foundation donations.