Donor Spotlight: The New Year Brings New Hope for Cancer Care

O ver the past eight months, Tom and Dorothy Kern have led a fundraising campaign in Sandusky County to build a specialized cancer center that began with

their generous naming gift.

The Kerns chose to lead this fundraising campaign because they love their community and want to see it thrive and do well.

“Moving our community forward as a state-of-the-art provider for cancer care is very important to enhancing the local quality of life and impacting our community’s economic well-being,” said Tom and Dorothy Kern.

As a long-time donor to the ProMedica Memorial Hospital Foundation, Tom felt this campaign offered a special opportunity to recognize his wife, “Dottie,” for her impact on the community and unwavering support over their 49 years together.

“I have been so fortunate throughout my life and have enjoyed so much recognition personally – so to be able to give the same recognition to my wife by naming the cancer center in her honor is truly a dream come true,” said Tom Kern.

The Kerns believe it is important to provide immediate, substantial and lasting care to the community.

Through a community health needs assessment, it has been determined that a cancer center is the most prominent need of Sandusky County, with cancer being the second leading cause of death.

The Dorothy L. Kern Cancer Center will reduce travel time for patients and increase time with loved ones while enhancing the local quality of life. With the support of ProMedica Memorial Hospital and the ProMedica Cancer Institute, the center will include the newest technologies in treating cancer as well as offer programs and screenings to aid in early detection and

survivorship care planning.

“The ProMedica team will be a catalyst to change our community forever. Their involvement will help ensure quality, stability and sustainability in support and the treatments of patients locally,” said Tom Kern.

ProMedica would like to thank Tom and Dorothy Kern, the capital campaign committee and all generous donors for their commitment and support of our Mission to improve health and well-being.

ON A MISSION A ProMedica Foundation Update

In this Issue

Donor Spotlight

Volunteer Spotlight

Champions of Philanthropy

Community Ties

Young Philanthropists

Your Donation at Work

Your Legacy

January 2016

DOROTHY L. KERN CANCER CENTER

To learn more about the ProMedica Dorothy L. Kern Cancer Center, visit promedica.org/givefremont.

Tom and Dorothy Kern

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHTVolunteer Explains Why He is in the Most Selfish Profession

Can you pinpoint one date that changed your life forever?

For Chuck Owen, this is easy— July 12, 2012. On this momentous day, three years ago, he walked through the doors of ProMedica Ebeid Hospice and never looked back.

However, getting to those doors was not simple. Chuck’s daughter’s father-in-law mentioned

the volunteer opportunity, but Chuck thought the job was meant for someone completely selfless and he did not think he was that person.

“I thought it would be depressing,” Chuck said, “but I found it is a selfish profession. It would be impossible for me to give back the amount I have gained from this incredible experience.”

The interaction with the staff, patients and their families has kept Chuck going back ever since that first day three years ago.

“I find myself fulfilled and humbled by the opportunity to spend 30 hours each week listening to patients stories or their reflections on life,” said Chuck. “It is within my time spent at ProMedica Ebeid Hospice that I have experienced people at the core of who they really are.”

Chuck feels that as a volunteer, he has more time to really sit and be present with the patients. He listens as they recount the history that has brought them to this moment; like drinking scotch with Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower or narrowly escaping capture from the Nazis by fleeing into a Ukrainian forest.

“I volunteer because of the incredible importance of the work ProMedica Ebeid Hospice does, and because of the quality of the people I am surrounded by,” Chuck said.

It is because of volunteers like Chuck, the hidden gems, that ProMedica Ebeid Hospice continues to provide the highest quality of care to the patients they serve.

Chuck Owen

Dr. Johan Aasbo

Dr. Ravi Adusumilli

Dr. Akinfemi Afolabi

Dr. Mohammed Ahmed

Heather Arbogast

Dr. Stephen Ariss

Dr. Amer Arshad

Dr. Bryan Badik

Dr. Jill Badik

Dr. Michael Badik

Dr. Jeffrey Baer

Amanda Bair

Dr. Ted Barber

Bay Park Hospital

Dr. Tim Beidelschies

Dr. Beth Besaw

Dr. Jim Bingle

Dr. Samih Bittar

Casey Brodbeck, RN

Dr. Patrick Bruss

Dr. Bienvenido G. Buenaflor, (deceased)

Dr. Mark Burket

Dr. Fouad Butto

Cardiovascular Staff at St. Luke’s Hospital

Sarah Cults

Cardiology Department at Toledo Hospital

Dr. Maria Cordoba-Naguit

Lori Crouse

Dr. William Decker

Dialysis Unit at Fostoria Hospital

Laurie Dickens

Dr. Robert Donawa

Julie Elchinger, RN

Emergency Room at Defiance Hospital

Emergency Room at Herrick Hospital

Shirley Gabor

Dr. Riccardo Giovannone

Dr. Gleen

Jade Graf, RN

Carol Grodi

Dr. Roy Harvey

Dr. Heather Haynes

Dr. Bruce Heck

Vaughn Hoblet

Dr. Brian Hoeflinger

Hospital Operations

Dr. Navin Jayne

Dr. Adil Karamali

Thank you to the following ProMedica caregivers who have been honored by our patients through our Grateful Patient Program, and to our employees who have been recognized for furthering a culture of philanthropy at ProMedica. Caregivers honored between September 14 and November 18.

Champions of Philanthropy

Share Your Story: Dawn Cable

For 25 years, Dawn Cable has been an employee of ProMedica, but last February she found the tables were turned when she suddenly became ill. She was rushed to ProMedica Toledo Hospital, which made her feel uneasy because she perceived it to be much larger than her local ProMedica Bixby Hospital, and she really loved the small, community feel of Bixby.

Dawn was pleasantly surprised to find that, in fact, quite the opposite was true of ProMedica Toledo Hospital. She received quality care that extended past bedside manner and into true friendship from devoted caregivers like her two nurses, Jennifer and Lori, as well as Dr. Brian Hoeflinger.

“My husband could not be with me every day, but I never worried because the staff spent time with me and was so caring. I was never rushed out of conversations,” Dawn said. “ProMedica Toledo Hospital may be large, but the staff still provides the community feeling. I was treated like the only patient in the hospital.”

Dawn now loves ProMedica Toledo Hospital. She is thankful for the stability provided by ProMedica on every level of care she has received.

CHAMPIONS OF PHILANTHROPY

Dawn and Ken Cable

Karen in Dr. Gill and Dr. Yuan’s office

Kim, Customer Service Agent

Dr. Emile Klada

Ann Kujawa

Marcia Kunkelman

Main Entrance Greeters at Fostoria Community Hospital

Sue Mason, CNP

Lynn Masters

Shakara McCullan

Christine Mears

Medical Surgical Department at Bixby Hospital

Dr. John Mensah

Dr. Padmaja Mouli

Dr. Henry Naddaf

NICU at Toledo Children’s Hospital

Nurse Michelle

Nurses on the 6th Floor at Toledo Hospital

Dr. Samer S. Obri

Randy Oostra

Dr. Richard Parker

Physical Therapists at St. Luke’s Hospital: Matt Rivera, Mary Jo, and Chad

Dr. Tony Pinson

Dr. Rebecca Poetschke

Rehab/9N and ER at Toledo Hospital

Bernadette Reinhart

Dr. Steve Saddemi

Dr. Richard Schwartz

Dr. Ajeet Sharma

Dr. Mujeeb Sheikh

Dr. Robin Shermis

Kathy Shin

Susan Schuman

Dr. Alan Snider

Dr. Songee

Kerrie Sprow

Kathryn Stricker, RN

Kristina Thomas

Dr. Pierre Vauthy

Dr. Jackie Vannuyen

Dr. Patricia Vega

Volunteers at Herrick Hospital

Waterville Family Physicians

Dr. Truman Weigand

Robin Whitney

Dr. David Winner

Jeannie Yonker

Champions of Philanthropy

If you’re grateful for the care and compassion you or a loved one received at ProMedica, we’d love to hear from you. To share your story, honor a caregiver or express your gratitude by making a donation, please visit promedica.org/give or call Maria Dvorak Schmalzried at 419-291-5756.

COMMUNITY TIES

An Evening Benefiting Kaitlyn’s Cottage

On November 6, nearly $30,000 was raised for Kaitlyn’s Cottage, a respite care center for individuals with special needs, located on the campus of ProMedica Defiance Regional Hospital.

The highlight of the evening was the touching words of gratitude and inspiration shared by Kaitlyn’s grandparents, Dan and Sharon Farrell, and parents, Josh and Cris Shock.

Chefs Uncorked: A Collaboration for Health, Education and Creativity

Nearly 700 guests spent a picturesque evening at the Chefs Uncorked Event at the Key Bank Building in Downtown Toledo. The collaborative event raised more than $375,000 to support ProMedica Toledo Hospital, ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital, ProMedica Physicians and Continuum Services, Northwest Ohio Scholarship Fund, The Arts Commission and Toledo Symphony. Allan and Susan Block served as the event’s Honorary Chairs alongside Honorary Chefs, Labib and Karyn Hajjar.

Kaitlyn Shock surrounded by her family at the event. Left to right: Brian Muldoon, Lisa Farrell Muldoon, Juliene Farrell Haskins, Ted Haskins, Cris Farrell Shock, Kaitlyn Shock, Josh Shock, Sharon Farrell, Dan Farrell.

Allan and Susan Block, Honorary Chairs, and Labib and Karyn Hajjar, Honorary Chefs, thank guests for support.

Left to right: Randa Mansour-Shousher, Rita Mansour, Hussien Shousher, Barbara Steele, and Sue Hague-Rogers enjoy their first taste of Chefs Uncorked at the preview event .

Holiday Gala

ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital hosted the 11th Annual Holiday Gala (formerly Fantasy of Christmas Trees) on November 30. Nearly 300 guests attended the event at Monroe County Community College and proceeds benefited the Community Care Funds at PMRH.

Annette Phillips, president, ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital, Norm Johnson and Greg Phillips

COMMUNITY TIES

Impacting and Inspiring the Philanthropists of the Future

Toledo’s young professionals gathered in the spirit of philanthropy at ProMedica’s Impact and Inspire inaugural event at M’Osteria. The October event, the first in a quarterly series, stands to instill a new culture of philanthropy and highlight the

potential of our region’s young professionals.

To make an instant impact, guests purchased items off of a gift registry that served as their ticket for the evening. The registry included items to stock the kitchen at ProMedica Ebeid Institute for Population Health.

Join us for the next Impact and Inspire event, benefiting ProMedica Food Pharmacy on January 28. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. at The Blarney Event Center. For more information or to RSVP, contact Christina Crites at 419-291-5452 or christina.crites@promedica.org.

Pictured left to right are Kate Lankey, event volunteer, Dr. Neeraj Kanwal, president, ProMedica Flower Hospital, Ann Kujawa, vice president, ProMedica Cancer Institute and Mary Beth Zolik-Smith, radio personality for 101.5 The River.

Bite for the Fight

ProMedica Flower Hospital’s fifth annual Bite for the Fight was held on Saturday, October 10 and benefited the Hickman Cancer Center’s patient assistance fund. The event raised more than $25,000 thanks to 23 sponsors with 335 walkers.

Guests Jessica and Elizabeth LaValley and Bradley Dunkle at the first Impact and Inspire event.

Ty Boyd, Steve Johnson and Patrick Stutler of Lathrop (the event sponsor) enjoyed the evening.

Art Bra Lenawee

Art Bra Lenawee is an annual auction of embellished bras and works of art that raises funds to support Lenawee County residents affected by breast cancer. The goal is to raise $50,000 for a Tomosynthesis machine at ProMedica Herrick Hospital. This year, the event raised approximately $18,000, bringing the total amount raised so far to $30,000.

Pictured from left to right are Cheri Ricketts, Loren Hayes, Vicki Lantzy, Dr. Rebecca Poetschke-Snider, Kim Bachner, Jane Stickney, Wendy Gietzen and Courtney Walter.

YOUNG PHILANTHROPISTS

Junior Girl Scouts Earn Highest Honor

Marie Grundy is a Girl Scout Troop Leader of five special needs young ladies: Emma Grundy, Cassidy Urban, Klarie Wilcznski, Cassie Brugger and Abbigail Langschied. Over the past two years, they’ve been working on a project to earn the ”Bronze Medal” which is the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout can earn.

Their project focused on supporting grieving children. From cloth, the girls designed, sewed and created plush kittens for children who have family members at Ebeid Hospice Residence. Each kitten has words of encouragement attached. The girls also used their earned money to purchase more than 40 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for ProMedica Ebeid Hospice. Marie and Troop 10134 are truly an inspiration.

St. Joseph Sylvania’s Chapter of Girls on The Run made and delivered two blankets and encouraging signs for the children at ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital.

Eighth grade students at Monroe Catholic Elementary School organized a CYO volleyball tournament to benefit the Breast Cancer Patient Assistance Fund at ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital. Presenting a $1,200 check to Molly Moore (executive director of philanthropy, ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital) are Sarah Reicker, Brooke Kuehnlein, Hannah Hodgson and Abigail Judd.

Springfield High School Advanced Placement PsychologyDepartment held a toy drive to benefit ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital and a total of 1,150 toys were delivered. According to the Child Life Department, this is one of the largest donations in history! Thank you, Springfield!

YOUR DONATION AT WORK

Raising the Bar For Child Health

Long time ProMedica donor and former ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital Foundation board member, Marilyn Fox is always looking for the next opportunity to help others. She recently learned of Grace and Michael Liston, a mother and son duo with a unique story.

At first, Michael’s grand mal seizures, constant dehydration and two bleeding, acute ulcers were manageable for Grace, but as his needs increased, it was not easy to constantly care for him on her own.

Grace applied for a Medicaid waiver to fund a full-time nurse for Michael, and to her surprise, it was not approved. After 54 trips to the hospital in three years, she was connected with a new program, the Toledo Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC), which provides free legal services to pediatric patients to help combat health-harming social conditions. This program is a partnership of ABLE (Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.) and ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital.

“In a medical-legal partnership, doctors and their healthcare colleagues are trained to recognize legal needs that have a detrimental effect on a patient’s health,” says Dr. Howard Stein.

Marilyn Fox saw the need for a strong medical-legal partnership which is why in 2013, her gift in conjunction with a grant presented to ABLE, helped start the fund at ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital.

“I felt this program was very important,” said Marilyn, “I have a passion for helping people who want to help themselves, which is exactly the kind of person Grace is.”

Heather Hall, an attorney at ABLE, worked on behalf of Michael and Grace. She gathered records from each of Michael’s doctors, filed all appeals, and guided them through the entire appeal process.

Michael was approved for an Ohio Home Care Waiver, which enabled the family to obtain a handicapped accessible van and a full-time nurse. With the care of the nurse, Leah Benton, Grace is able to do simple things such as mow the lawn and take a shower without worrying about Michael. Michael now receives the assistance he needs to live a safe, healthy and full life.

“The guidance and help from Marilyn, Heather and the MLPC have provided us with a new way of life and for that I am forever grateful,” explained Grace.

Standing are Marilyn Fox and Grace Liston and seated are Michael Liston, Leah Benton and Heather Hall.

For more information about the MLPC and how you can help, please contact Heather Hall at hhall@ablelaw.org.

Your privacy is important to us. If you no longer wish to receive any ProMedica fundraising communications, please call 855-646-1815 or email foundation.optout@promedica.org.

Your Passion. Your Gift.

Thank you for partnering with us to make a powerful difference in the lives of others.

Questions? Call 419-291-5452, or visit us at promedica.org/give.

“The greatest investment we can ever make is to invest our life in the life of someone else.”-Scott Lee

Don and Rosie Fee have a vested interest in their community of Defiance, because it’s the place their family loves and considers home. The Fees first became involved with ProMedica Defiance Regional Hospital when they began volunteering at the hospital to support their fellow community members in their time of need.

Recently, the Fees decided that they wanted to do more. They chose to create a Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) naming ProMedica as the charitable beneficiary. This gave them peace of mind to know that their community would benefit for generations to come.

“Investing in ProMedica was an easy decision because the people and the health care are outstanding,” said Don.

We appreciate the investment Don and Rosie have made to ProMedica and welcome them as the first members of the ProMedica Legacy Society.

To learn more about the ProMedica Legacy Society and other ways you can help further ProMedica’s Mission, contact Stacy Harper at 419-291-6189 or visit our website at promedica.org/plannedgiving.

Celebrating the Partnership of Our Mission

ProMedica Mission Partners recently joined Randy Oostra and his Executive Team to celebrate the Partnership of our Mission at the year-end Mission Partner Celebration. The event took place at the new Market on the Green grocery store in Uptown Toledo.

“Communities become better when we support each other, and we couldn’t do what we do without you!” Randy Oostra said at the event.

Thank you Mission Partners for more than $1 million in support for our patients, clients and families!

For a complete list of Mission Partners, visit promedica.org/give.

Erica Portillo, executive director, ProMedica Bay Park Hospital Foundation, Joe Luzar, chair, ProMedica Bay Park Hospital Foundation Board and Holly Bristoll, president, ProMedica Bay Park Hospital.

Bob LaClair of Fifth Third Bank and Denny Johnson of Brooks Insurance enjoy the event.