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January
25, 2007
Marquette General Announces Foundation and $1.7 million raised
Grateful Patients and Families Program also launched
At a press conference, Marquette General Health
System announced the formation of the Marquette General Foundation;
the achievement of 1.7 million dollars raised; and the launch
of the Grateful Patients and Families Program.
Marquette
General CEO Bill Nemacheck said, “The Marquette
General Foundation was incorporated in 2004, and has been
conducting the quiet phase of a fund development program
since then. We achieved the first million dollar milestone
in December. Our Foundation staff, led by Executive Director
Jan Hillman, have done an outstanding job with the Foundation
launch. I’m very pleased to formally introduce Jan
to the public.”
Prior
to Hillman’s arrival in Marquette, she owned and
operated a private consulting firm for more than twenty
years, and also served as Director of Grants and Research
Development at Kettering Medical Center in Kettering,
Ohio. During her career, she has helped to raise more
than $100 million.
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CEO
Bill Nemacheck |
“I’m very excited to be involved with
the launch of the Marquette General Foundation,” Hillman
said. “Gifts to the Foundation will help our health system
with the purchase of cutting-edge equipment, the establishment
of new and expanded services, and other priorities established
by the Hospital Board.”
Steve
Mattson |
Steve
Mattson serves as president of the Marquette General Foundation
Board of Directors, and is a member of the MGHS Board of
Trustees.
“This
is a challenging and exciting time in health care, and at
Marquette General,” Mattson said. “It’s
absolutely essential for a hospital of our size and reputation
to have a formalized fund development function.
“For example, hospitals nationwide are seeing staggering
increases in the amount of uncompensated care,” said
Mattson. “In 2006 alone, Marquette General provided
more $14.3 million in care for which the hospital received
no payment. Gifts to the Foundation can help to pay for
the charitable care we provide.” |
According to Hillman, those who have contributed
toward the milestone first $1.7 million dollars have expressed
their appreciation for the opportunity to make a significant impact
on the hospital’s future, range of services and care available
to patients throughout the Upper Peninsula.
“From
the beginning, we have received a number of wonderful gifts
that have touched our staff in so many ways,” said
Hillman. “For example, we recently received a cash
gift and life insurance policy from a couple who wanted
to give in honor of a good friend who was treated at Marquette
General. It’s incredibly moving to see people make
gifts to help others and experience the joy of philanthropy.”
Hillman
said that with the establishment of the Grateful Patients
and Families Program, those who are appreciative of the
care provided to them and their loved ones at Marquette
General can make a gift in honor of a physician, staff member,
or volunteer. |
Jan
Hillman
|
“The donors decide where they would like
their gift used, or they may prefer to have the hospital use their
gift in areas of greatest need,” she said.
Dr.
Joseph Brzezinski, a pediatrician on staff at Marquette General
and a member of the Marquette General Foundation Board of Directors,
was the first donor to make a gift to the Grateful Patients and
Families program. In appreciation for his mother’s care
when she was recently hospitalized, he made gifts in honor of
two physicians and a staff member.
“My 70-year-old mother lives downstate,” said Brzezinski.
“She has a complex medical condition, and I knew that if
she had surgery here, her care would be equal to or better than
what she could obtain in her home area.
“Her care by these practitioners was exceptional,”
Brzezinski said. “They were also very reassuring and relieved
her anxiety. I felt that the best way to honor them was to make
a gift to the Foundation.”
As the Executive Director of the Marquette General Foundation,
Hillman’s credentials include a Master of Arts degree in
sociology with an emphasis on demographic research from the University
of Toledo, and a bachelor’s degree in general studies from
Kent State University.
She was named to the 2003 Top Ten Women in the Miami (Ohio) Valley
by the Dayton Daily News. She and her husband, William, have two
grown children: Cari and Chip.
For information on the Marquette General Foundation and the Grateful
Patients and Families Program, please contact the Foundation office
at 906-225-6914 or toll free at 866-906-6914, or visit the Marquette
General Foundation website at www.mgh.org/foundation.
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