Impacting Health Together: 2022 Giving Report

IMPACTING health together

Dear Friends of USA Health,

Believing that our best days are ahead, it’s never been a better time to join in the mission of USA Health. We help people lead longer, better lives. It’s at the heart of what our team does every day.

Thoughtful and purposeful support makes this possible. Donors to USA Health create legacies that bolster our stability and enhance resources to better serve others now, and into the future. Your generosity underscores the humanity of healthcare in our community - many working towards a common goal.

It is a pleasure to provide the 2022 impact report, illustrating the tripartite mission of academic medicine: clinical care, research, and education. The stories of donor impact are sure to resonate with you, vital members of the community, who reap the greatest rewards from a robust and thriving academic health system.

We recognize the important part that you play in our collective success and we are deeply grateful for your commitment.

Sincerely,

Owen Bailey, M.S.H.A., FACHE Senior Associate Vice President for Medical Affairs

Chief Executive Officer

Party with a purpose

Norville Harrison has found purpose in loss — and has managed to turn it into a party. Debbie, Harrison’s late wife, is the reason he pours himself into his annual fundraiser, Pink is the New Green Soiree. Debbie fought a fierce battle against Stage IV breast cancer in 2013.

The soiree has turned into an annual party at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club with people spilling out into the streets, block-party style.

“There are 25-30 people who show up every year because they knew and loved my wife,” Harrison said. “The rest keep showing up because it’s a cause worth getting behind.”

Harrison donates the proceeds to the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute’s Audrey Joyce Grodnick Breast Cancer Research Fund, making sure that progress is made towards a world without breast cancer.

“It’s important to me that the money goes towards MCI’s research programs because the money stays here in our community,” Harrison said. “It’s not going to administrative costs or someone’s salary like it might at a national organization.”

We are grateful for our community fundraisers who bring much-needed funding and awareness to the Mitchell Cancer Institute.

If you are interested in hosting your own fundraiser to benefit an entity of USA Health, please contact the Office of Development at 251-460-7032 or development@southalabama.edu.

John V. Marymont, M.D., M.B.A. Vice President for Medical Affairs

Dean, Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama

The inaugural Doc Rock was a smash hit as a battle-of-the-bands evening of music, each band had a connection to USA Health in some way. The crowd called the shots, voting for their favorite band in a variety of categories, and raised money for each band’s preferred area of support at USA Health.

Save the date to rock on with USA Health on March 23 at Doc Rock 2023! usahealthsystem.com/doc-rock

I was excited to be a volunteer for the first Doc Rock fundraiser. The life-changing and -saving work that is done at USA Health is so important for those who live on the Gulf Coast.

— Janelle Adams, Doc Rock Committee Member

more than runners 15thyear Over the past 15 years, more than

GO Run funding plays a key role in our ability to train future physician-scientists to take care of women in need and advance their care through research.

— Jennifer M. Scalici, M.D., Chief of Gynecologic Oncology at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute

Teen living full life with ‘special heart’

The first few weeks of Virginia Ann Harrigan’s life were dramat ic, to say the least. Her parents, Michelle and Patrick Harrigan, learned that their daughter had two heart defects at birth.

Virginia Ann spent some time on a ventilator in the neonatal intensive care unit at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospi tal before undergoing heart surgery in Atlanta at just 10 days old. She then returned home to south Alabama to be a life-long patient of Dr. Lynn Batten, director of pediatric cardiology at USA Health.

“We spent many hours in NICUs and came to realize that it is truly an amazing group of people who commit their lives to caring for infants and children with life-threatening illnesses,” Patrick Harrigan said. “Their work often goes unrecognized until you or a loved one needs them. Thank God they are there for our community.”

“I’m blown away that I get to participate in patients like VA’s lives,” Dr. Batten said. “When I hear [grateful] feedback like this from families, it really makes me remember that this is why I went into medicine in the first place.”

Throughout the years, Dr. Batten reassured the Harrigans that Virginia Ann, now 19, could live a full life. Virginia Ann certain ly put her heart to the test as she poured herself into dance, swimming, cheerleading, tennis, soccer, and even a triathlon. She excelled in her high-level classes and is now a freshman at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

“We had such good care,” Michelle Harrigan said. “We fully trusted our physician and had no reason to think Virginia Ann would break. We never let her special heart become a ‘thing.’ Dr. Batten hammered that home.”

To put their gratitude into action, Michelle and Patrick give reg ularly to support USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital. “We realize how life-changing the work done at Children’s & Women’s can be,” Patrick Harrigan said. “We’ve experienced it first-hand. And we always want anyone in our community who is going through a similar experience to be able to get topquality care right here at home.”

BUILDING ACCESS TO CARE

6 of 9

current construction projects completed in FY 2022

Freestanding Emergency Department and Imaging and Diagnostic Center West Mobile Campus

Mobile Diagnostic CenterWest Mobile Campus USA Health OB-GYNSpring Hill Eastern Shore OB-GYN and Pediatrics

Coastal OB-GYN

Mapp Family Campus Medical Office Building and Imaging and Diagnostic Center

To learn more about honoring a care team member, go to usahealthsystem.com/grateful

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Medical Office Building - West Mobile Campus opening Summer 2023

Mapp Family Campus - Ambulatory Surgery Center opening Summer 2023

Children’s & Women’s Hospital Pediatric Emergency Center opening Fall 2023

We believe great things begin by sharing gratitude.

Rewarding rural medicine

Decades ago, Mobile area surgeon Ernest DeBakey, M.D., recognized that healthcare should be for everyone, no matter where they live. The challenge? Finding physicians who want to live and work in small towns. So, he set out to increase the number of practitioners in these areas.

Today, the Ernest G. DeBakey Charitable Foundation continues the legacy of Dr. DeBakey and his wife, Marsha, who passed away in 2006 and 2019. Among its initiatives is a scholarship for medical students at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama who agree to practice in a rural community for five years following residency. Their reward is significant — graduating debt-free from medical school.

The current cost of four years at the Whiddon College of Medicine is about $250,000, and the debt many students take on can be staggering. For students already hoping to practice in a rural area, though, the DeBakey Foundation scholarship is a perfect fit.

Kiara Carmichael, a member of the Class of 2023 and a graduate of Tuskegee University, is one such student. “I began medical school knowing that I wanted to pursue rural medi cine, so I was very excited to learn about the DeBakey Foundation scholarship,” she said. “The scholarship has been a huge financial help to me during medical school.”

Carmichael didn’t grow up in a rural area, but her four years in Tuskegee were eye-open ing. Resources were very limited in the rural county 40 miles east of Montgomery. Because of that stark reality, she realized she had taken healthcare access for granted. Her college experience was the spark that set her on her current path.

After graduation, Carmichael plans to com plete a family medicine residency and then practice family medicine and obstetrics in rural Alabama. “I hope that I can help make healthcare more accessible for areas of need,” she said. “This scholarship has meant so much to me and has helped me tremendously throughout my journey.”

WHAT TO GIVE

GIFTS OF STOCKS AND BONDS

Donating appreciated securities, including stocks or bonds, is an easy and tax-effective way for you to make a gift to USA Health.

GIFTS OF RETIREMENT ASSETS

Donating part or all of your unused retirement assets such as a gift from your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), pension or other taxdeferred plan is an excellent way to make a gift to USA Health.

GIFTS OF REAL ESTATE

Donating appreciated real estate, such as a home, vacation property, undeveloped land, farmland, ranch or commercial property can make a great gift.

GIFTS OF INSURANCE

A gift of your life insurance policy is an excellent way to make a gift to charity. If you have a life insurance policy that has outlasted its original purpose, consider making a gift of your insurance policy. For example, you may have purchased a policy to provide for minor children and they are now financially independent adults.

GIFTS OF CASH

A gift of cash is a simple and easy way for you to make a gift. Gifts of $5,000 or more may be paid over a 5-year period. Monthly recurring gifts are another great way to ensure sustained funding to your area of support.

IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER

If you are 70 1/2 or older, you can use your individual retirement ac count (IRA) to support USA Health. Direct up to $100,000 directly to USA Health through your IRA Charitable Rollover gift.

HOW TO GIVE QUESTIONS? WANT TO LEARN MORE?

BEQUEST

You designate USA Health as the beneficiary of your asset by will, trust or beneficiary designation form.

BENEFICIARY DESIGNATION GIFTS

You can designate us as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment or bank account or your life insurance policy.

The USA Health Development team can help you align your gift with an area you are passionate about. Get in touch with us at development@southalabama.edu