McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation Spring 2014 Newsletter

Gifts are Changing Lives in Your Community SPRING 2014

INSIDE:

Thanks to YOU, A Dying Man’s Wish to See His Granddaughter Get Married Came True Hands-Free Device Delivers CPR to Northern Michigan Patients

Our PROMISE to YOU:

As a donor to McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation, you will have unwavering confidence that your gift will be optimized to provide superior patient care and knowledge that your generosity will impact you, your family and your community for generations to come.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Ham Schirmer - CHAIR Elise F. Hayes - VICE CHAIR Stephen Eibling - TREASURER Miriam Schulingkamp SECRETARY Patricia Anton Lawrence D. Buhl, Jr. Sally I. Cannon, PhD David C. M. Corteville, MD Murray A. Cotter, MD, PhD Gay G. Cummings Patrick Leavy Deborah K. Nachtrab John N. Shevillo Tracy Souder Miles Trumble, MD Pamela L. Wyett David M. Zechman, FACHE PRESIDENT & CEO Moon Seagren VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

We have some exciting news! You may have already noticed our new newsletter format with articles highlighting the important work YOU make possible by supporting the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation.

Along with this new format, you can expect to hear from us more frequently about how your dollars are hard at work improving the lives of patients at McLaren Northern Michigan. In this issue, you’ll read about how a young girl’s dream of playing basketball again came true, how gifts are touching the lives of patients at one of life’s most difficult times and about how a new hands-free device is changing the way CPR is being delivered in some of our northern Michigan communities.

Everything we do here at the Foundation starts and ends with YOU. Our community hospital was built by the generosity of philanthropists more than 77 years ago. Today, we continue to rely upon your generosity to continue to provide the best care possible, right here at home.

Thank you for supporting the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation. Thanks to YOU, miracles are happening here every day.

Sincerely,

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Michael Bacon, DO Cindy Baiardi Lawrence Beck Robert Bleyaert Ermy Bonfield J. Steven Brown Fay Buhl David Crouse Allen Damschroder, MD H. Gunner Deery, MD Mary Kay Farley Richard Hirrel William Hofmann Ann Irish Frederick Koehler William Meengs, MD William Meengs, Jr. Philip Millard Thomas Moran James S. Offield Michael Pettibone Borge Reimer Philip T. Smith Susanna Souder Ann Stallkamp 360 Connable Avenue Petoskey, Michigan 49770 (231) 487-3500 nmh-foundation.org

Moon Seagren Vice President and Chief Development Officer McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation

Ham Schirmer Board Chair McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation

Since I have been with McLaren Northern Michigan, I have been awed and inspired by the incredible care you make possible by being a McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation donor.

Generous donors like you have always been an important part of our organization’s legacy and as we look to the future of healthcare, philanthropy will play even more of a critical role. This year, our priority funding needs span from programs and equipment at the McLaren Northern Michigan Petoskey Campus, to a building addition at Boulder Park Terrace, to renovations at the Cheboygan Campus, to VitalCare programs including hospice, bereavement and the Adult Day Center.

As you read through this newsletter, I hope you are inspired by the amazing impact your gifts are making here every day. Because of you, patients are getting the skilled, compassionate care they need.

Thank you for making the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation one of your philanthropic priorities. I look forward to meeting you in person and to thanking you for making a difference in the lives of every patient who comes through our doors seeking care.

Sincerely,

David M. Zechman, FACHE President & CEO McLaren Northern Michigan

PATIENT ASSISTANCE In January of 2013, Ashley Pitman felt like her life was over. Basketball was the 16-year-old’s passion but a severe injury almost brought her days on the court to an abrupt end. During a game, she tore her Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL), one of the four major ligaments of the knee. While surgery was recommended, recovery would be long and likely take her out for the next season as well. Ashley was determined to get back in the game and wanted to try extensive rehab instead of surgery, but the cost— many months of therapy and an expensive brace — was more than her family could afford.

The Pitmans turned to the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation. Through the support of two anonymous donors, the Advent Fund was established to help patients and their families offset travel expenses to McLaren Northern Michigan or to other hospitals downstate for medical diagnosis, treatment or follow-up. This fund helps with expenses including transportation, food and accommodation costs. The fund also provides families with needed minor medical equipment for which they do not have the financial ability or insurance to cover.

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Thanks to the Advent Fund, one of our many Patient Assistance Funds, Ashley and her family received assistance to offset travel expenses (six monthly appointments at Michigan State University and three physical therapy sessions per week at the John and Marnie Demmer Wellness Pavilion), as well as a knee brace. With a lot of hard work, Ashley exceeded all expectations and played her first game in early December. Her team won the game and she even scored.

“I do not know what we would have done without assistance from the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation,” said Ashley’s mother, Jennifer. “It has been truly life-changing for her to get back on the basketball court and do what she loves.”

Nothing throws a family into turmoil faster than having a family member diagnosed with a life-threatening or life-altering disease. The need for patient assistance is never-ending, however, the funds are not. Please consider making a donation to the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation in support of patients and their families during one of their most desperate times of need.

A DYING WISH

Thanks to YOU, A Hospice Patient’s Final Wish to See His Granddaughter Get Married Came True Robert Weaver had a special wish before he said his final good-bye – to see his granddaughter get married.

Engaged in the spring of 2013, Lisa and Craig had been trying to decide when, where and how to get everyone together to celebrate their special day. After a visit to her beloved grandfather, Robert, at the Hiland Cottage in Petoskey, part of VitalCare Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, everything fell into place. “My dad asked them when they were getting married and from there, something really special happened,” said Robert’s daughter, Kathy.

The mission of VitalCare Hospice is to provide comfort, support, and end-of-life care as we would for our own loved ones. Hospice is about living every day of life fully, without pain or symptoms. The VitalCare Hospice model of care treats patients and family members with the understanding that worries about the future have a genuine and legitimate impact on frame of mind and personal comfort at end-of-life. In Robert’s case, seeing his granddaughter get married was truly his dying wish. For that reason, Lisa and Craig felt strongly that the Hiland Cottage was where the wedding needed to be and the staff was more than willing to make that wish come true.

A total of seven family members, including Robert, watched Lisa and Craig exchange vows. “My dad was so very proud and happy to have been a part of this special day. He smiled through the whole ceremony and had tears rolling down his cheeks,” Kathy said. For the rest of his family, it was about finding a moment of joy amidst the sadness. “There was sadness, but there was light, too, because we had the opportunity to laugh, talk and reminisce. It was both sad and wonderful,” she said. “This is our second Hospice of Little Traverse Bay experience,” she continued. “This organization is wonderful. There is no other word for it.”

When you make a gift in support of VitalCare Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, you make wishes like this one come true.

The McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation relies on donations and gifts to provide Hospice care for you, your loved ones and your northern neighbors every day. Please make a gift to the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation to support VitalCare Hospice of Little Traverse Bay today.

Hands-Free CPR Delivering Continuous Chest Compressions to Northern Michigan Patients If you or a loved one was in cardiac arrest, wouldn’t you want the best care possible?

Thanks to a gift from the Robert Considine Foundation, supported by his foundation trustees, Robert Boesiger and Ron Meister, paramedics in northern Michigan now have an extra device to improve the chance of saving your life! When a call is received that someone is in cardiac arrest, a team including paramedics and first responders is dispatched. This team is responsible for driving the ambulance and caring for the patient.

Now, residents in northern Michigan have access to special resuscitation technology called LIFE-STAT. In February, 24 units were deployed to ambulances in Cheboygan and Emmet Counties and parts of Mackinac and Presque Isle Counties.

LIFE-STAT administers optimal CPR which benefits both patients and rescuers. Through LIFE-STAT, compressions remain constant and are not impacted by moving the patient, bumps in the road, paramedic fatigue during long commutes, etc. Additionally, LIFE-STAT frees the paramedic to treat the patient’s other needs including dressing wounds or starting an IV. “We transport patients long distances to medical facilities and having this kind of device will be a positive for all concerned,” said Fred Thompson, Jr. , Mackinaw City Fire Chief/ Ambulance Director. “Performing CPR and ventilation in the back of an ambulance on northern Michigan roads is hard and inconsistent at best. Having these units will improve patient care along with crew safety. It will bring a more consistent procedure to the patient and that’s always a positive thing.” Fred said that the Mackinaw City Ambulance is a small operation and has a hard time financing equipment of this type, so the generous donation from the Robert Considine Foundation to purchase these units was a blessing - not only for Mackinaw City, but for the whole tip of northern Lower Michigan.

Dr. Thomas Charlton, Medical Director of the Northern Michigan Medical Control Authority and Medical Director of the McLaren Northern Michigan Emergency Department, adds that the LifeStat units both assist paramedics on the road and providers in the Emergency Department. “Thanks to the Robert Considine Foundation’s generous donation, the LifeStat equipment provides uninterrupted chest compressions as patients transition from the ambulance to the ED. We recently celebrated the first life saved using this equipment.”

Funding the Future The following new funds have been established at the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation: Brain & Injury Stroke Support Group Just for Us Breast Health Kalahar and Tost Family Pediatric Patient Assistance Marana Tost Oncology Endowment Martin and Patricia Jahn Scholarship Miriam Behling Endowment Schirmer Family Fund

2014 Fundraising Goal: ....$5,800,065

McLaren Northern Michigan Petoskey Campus ..... $4,400,065 Area of Greatest Need (Unrestricted) Programmatic Equipment Community Free Clinic Various Restricted Funds Boulder Park Terrace ......................................................$200,000 McLaren Northern Michigan Cheboygan Campus .....$500,000 VitalCare Programs and Projects ................................$700,000 Adult Day Center Quality of Life Fund Hospice of the Sunrise Shore Volunteer Programs Hospice of the Straits Palliative Care Program Hospice of Little Traverse Bay Telehealth Program Bereavement Programs Home Care

You can change lives by establishing your own fund or by supporting a Funding Priority. Call (231) 487-3500 for more information about how you can make a difference in the lives of patients at McLaren Northern Michigan today.

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On behalf of all of us and more importantly, all of the patients who benefit from your support, THANK YOU for supporting the McLaren Northern Michigan Foundation!

Because of YOU, miracles are happening here every day!