Gilda's Club Chicago’s 2010 Corporate and Foundation Breakfast

The Washington Square Health Foundation is sponsoring Gilda's Club Chicago’s 2010 Corporate and Foundation Breakfast featuring Dr. Jessie Gruman as the keynote speaker. 

Dr. Gruman is the founder and president of the Center for Advancing Health, an independent Washington-based nonprofit organization aimed at increasing patient engagement in the belief that people will not benefit from the health care available to them unless they participate fully and competently in it.  

She is one of the authors of the Institute of Medicine’s landmark 2007 report, Cancer Care for the Whole Patient, which recommends a standard of psychosocial care for patients and families. Dr. Gruman’s work on this topic has included the private sector (AT&T), the public sector (National Institutes of Health) and the voluntary health sector (American Cancer Society). She is also an accomplished author.

The breakfast will be held at Gilda's Club Chicago, 537 North Wells Street on Tuesday, May 25th from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM.  Gilda's Club Chicago is Chicago’s leading provider of free social, emotional, and informational support for everyone living with cancer -- men, women, teens, and children, along with their families and friends.

For further information on the breakfast or Gilda's Club Chicago, contact Steve Majsak at 312-464-9900 x 16 or by email at stephenmajsak@gildasclubchicago.org .

The Washington Square Health Foundation Celebrated 20 Years of Grant Making in 2007

The Board of Directors held its July 2007 Board Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia in conjunction with its 20th Anniversary Board Retreat.  Pictured above, Dr. Jose Oberholzer, Coordinator of The Chicago Project, gives the Board of Directors an update on the status of the science of The Chicago Project.

The Board of Directors toured the Center of Excellence for Surgical Education and Innovation at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C.  Pictured above (left photo, from left to right), Grant Committee Chairman Dr. William N. Werner and President Dr. Angelo P. Creticos listen as Dr. Warnock explains the history of the Center.  Pictured above (right photo, from left to right) Dr. William N. Werner, Howard Nochumson, John York, and Bill Wiley listen to an explanation of how surgical mannequins are used for training and education. 

The Board of Directors toured the Ike Barber Human Islet Transplant Laboratory at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C.  Pictured above, Dr. Warnock (center) explains the function of the laboratory to President Dr. Angelo P. Creticos and Board Members (not pictured). 

2nd Annual Chicago Project Conference - Diabetes Five Year Functional Cure Plan.

The Washington Square Health Foundation sponsored the 2nd Annual Chicago Project Conference to develop a Five-Year Functional Cure Plan for Diabetes. The conference took place during the week of November 13, 2006. Scientific progress was reviewed and a plan for the future was discussed in detail. The conference ended with a dinner on November 17, 2006 with the scientists, university officials, and Washington Square Health Foundation personnel. Pictured above in the forefront on the right is Washington Square Health Foundation President Angelo P. Creticos, MD, to his immediate right (standing) is Vice President Sunny A. Wirtz, directly behind her (standing) is Grant Committee Chairman William N. Werner, MD, MPH, seated to his left is Program Assistant Catherine Baginski and standing to her immediate left is Executive Director Howard Nochumson.

The Washington Square Health Foundation held its May 2006 Board of Directors Meeting at the Family Christian Health Center in Harvey, IL.  Clinic Founder and Clinician Dr. William Crevier (second from the right) and Executive Director of Family Christian Health Center Dr. Tom Rose (second from left) explain the history of the clinic’s new facility to Washington Square Health Foundation President Angelo P. Creticos, MD (far left) and Vice President Sunny A. Wirtz (far right) and the rest of the Foundation Board of Directors (not pictured).

Grant Workshop

Mary Driscoll, RN, MPH, and Kathleen Pietschmann, ND lead discussion groups at the Foundation’s recent Grantee Workshop.

The Washington Square Health Foundation held a Grant Workshop Institute on Friday, October 28, 2005.  Various Chicagoland healthcare organizations were selected to participate by invitation only, and over 40 potential grantees attended.  The purpose of this workshop was to help organizations develop and present grant requests that directly benefit specific organization’s needs and meet Washington Square Health Foundation’s grant making expectations. 

The Workshop was held at the Washington Square Health Foundation, Inc. Multimedia Conference Room at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  This conference room allowed for internet access and the use of a “high tech” touch screen. 

The workshop began with an overview of the history of the Foundation and its grant making priorities and objectives from the Foundation’s Executive Director, Howard Nochumson.  Participants then received instruction on meeting the Foundation’s administrative requirements from Catherine Baginski, the Foundation’s Program Assistant. 

Finally, the participants were divided into three small groups led by Foundation Consultants, Kathleen Pietschmann, N.D., or Mary Driscoll, RN, MPH, and the Foundation’s Executive Director.  Each participant was requested to submit, prior to the workshop, a one page project synopsis, which was reviewed in the small groups.

The workshop received overwhelming positive responses from the grantees, with requests for additional workshops on such topics as grant evaluation technique and grantee accountability. 

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Foundation President Dr. Angelo P. Creticos Addressed The 90th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner of the Institute oF Medicine of Chicago.

Washington Square Health Foundation President Angelo P. Creticos, MD, FACC, FACP a recipient of the 2004 Russe Award for Exemplary Compassion in Healthcare and a recently elected Fellow of the Institute, was a featured speaker at the Awards Dinner. This landmark anniversary event was held at the Mid-Day Club of Chicago.

Dr. Creticos, President, Washington Square Health Foundation, and recipient of the 2004 Russe Award for Exemplary Compassion in Healthcare and a recently elected Fellow of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and Dr. John Sheagran, Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center discuss Dr. Creticos’ address to the 90th Annual Meeting on May 17, 2005 and Awards Dinner of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago.

Read Dr. Creticos' speech, in its entirety, here: "Is Cost Effective Comprehensive Medical Care Possible?"

• 2004 Russe Award
• Diabetes Five Year Functional Cure Plan Announced December 8, 2004
• Site Visits
• Workshops
• Lectures

The Board of Directors and Staff of the Washington Square Health Foundation extend our sincere congratulations to President Angelo P. Creticos, MD, FACC, FACP, the 2004 recipient of the Henry P. Russe, MD Citation for Exemplary Compassion in Healthcare.

Angelo P. Creticos, MD shakes the hand of the Institute of Medicine’s Executive Director, Dr. Widen, as he graciously accepts his award.		Angelo P. Creticos, MD addresses the audience with brief yet eloquent words of appreciation for the acknowledgement and praise of his life’s work.

The Award honors superior humanitarianism in research, teaching and delivery of healthcare services, and is given to recognize persons who project qualities of humanitarianism that are integrated into professional, personal and civic life through sustained relationships with patients, colleagues, and members of the greater Chicago Community. The Henry P. Russe, MD Citation for Exemplary Compassion in Healthcare is awarded by the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and Rush University Medical Center in memory of Henry P. Russe, MD, who served as Dean of Rush University Medical Center and as President of the Institute of Medicine.

The Washington Square Health Foundation is pleased and proud of our President, Angelo P. Creticos, MD, FACC, FACP, as his over 55 years of service to the Chicago community has provided a wealth of advancements and improved standards of and access to healthcare.

After completing an extensive and impressive education at the Medical College of South Carolina, University of Chicago, Washington University, and University of Illinois, he went on to influence generations of health care professionals through numerous academic appointments at Chicago area Medical Schools and at the present time is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Rush University Medical Center. He was aware of the needs of total patient care so that early in his career he served on the ISMS Committee that promoted the development of the Associate Degree in Nursing that junior colleges included in their curriculum.

He also impacted the field of podiatry immensely as the Chairman of the Board at, what is now, the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science by taking a leadership role in transforming the Podiatric curriculum to a medical school model which led to its acceptance as a recognized ancillary medical specialty. He changed the degree of Chiropody to Doctor of Podiatric Medicine to better reflect the Podiatrist’s professional position as a member of the medical community. Dr. Creticos actively worked to have hospitals amend their medical staff by-laws to allow podiatrists to become members of a hospital’s professional staff.

As Chief of Medicine and Medical Director of the George & Anna Portes Cancer Center, he spearheaded the development of Multiphasic health testing at the center, as well as screening mammography on a large scale, and established and operated the most comprehensive clinic of its kind. During this time he was on staff at Henrotin Hospital where he later became the Medical Director and Director of Medical Education and developed the Henrotin Health & Fitness Testing Center, a model of preventive medicine’s capability to improve health, many years before it became fashionable to do so.

When Henrotin Hospital closed in the 1980s he became a founding Board Member of the Washington Square Health Foundation, one of the first conversion foundations in the country. By recycling the assets of the sale of the hospital into an endowment the foundation continues to support the Chicagoland healthcare community by providing funds in order to promote and maintain access to quality healthcare to all of its residents. The Foundation’s Grant Making Program, led by Dr. Creticos as Vice President of the Foundation and Chairman of the Grant Committee before becoming its President in 1996 has, from inception through the 2002 fiscal year, ending September 30, 2003, donated over 17.9 million dollars in charitable grants to the community, representing 107% of its original assets.

Also with the close of Henrotin Hospital, Dr. Creticos became active with Illinois Masonic Medical Center (IMMC) where he developed and served as Director of Podiatric Services, Director of Professional Affairs and Advisor to the Vice President of Medical Affairs, and Interim Chairman and subsequently Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine. He developed an affiliation between Illinois Masonic Medical Center and Scholl College whereby IMMC became the principal teaching hospital for Scholl College. He also helped establish two residency training programs at IMMC through Scholl College.

In recognition and appreciation for his work in the fields of medical education, clinical preventive medicine and delivery of health care, IMMC honored Dr. Creticos with the dedication of the Angelo P. Creticos, MD Cancer Center and an Endowment in Perpetuity, and the Angelo P. Creticos, MD Visiting Professorship in Medicine.

Dr. Creticos continues to improve the lives and health of the community in his position as Medical Director of the Union Health Service, of which he was a founding member. Union Health Service is a unique health care provider established as a not for profit organization, with the operating structure of a medical staff directed health maintenance organization.

Dr. Angelo P. Creticos has proven himself an extraordinary contributor to the improvement of his community, and an apt choice of the great honor of the Henry P. Russe, MD Citation for Exemplary Compassion in Healthcare.

Washington Square Health Foundation Sponsors Dinner on December 8, 2004 to Announce the Results of the Chicago Project’s International Conference, A Five Year Scientific Plan to Develop a Functional Cure for Diabetes.

Dr. Jose Oberholzer presents the initial results of an International Conference of Diabetic Researchers, sponsored by The University of Illinois at Chicago, Medical College and funded by the Washington Square Health Foundation, held in October2004, entitled the Chicago Project, A Five Year Plan to Develop a Functional Cure for Diabetes, as Mr. Bill Wiley, Washington Square Director, and Dr. Kathleen Pietschmann, Foundation Consultant, listen intently.

More than 60 people attended the Chicago Project dinner, including UIC surgeon, Enrico Benedetti, MD (Left), UIC College of Medicine (Rear) Dean, Joseph Flaherty, MD, Northbrook Energy COO, Stephen Sinclair, and his wife, Francesca.

Attending the dinner and helping to host the dinner, sponsored by the Washington Square Health Foundation to introduce the Chicago Project to area business leaders, is Sunny Wirtz, Vice President of the Foundation (Left). Pictured with her are Wirtz Corporation CEO, William W. Wirtz, and his wife, Alice.

Angelo P. Creticos, MD, President of the Washington Square Health Foundation, (Left) at the Chicago Project dinner discusses the project’s promise with Betul Hatipoglu, MD, Assistant Professor of Diabetes and Metabolism, and Jose Oberholzer, MD, Director of Cell and Pancreas Transplantation at UIC and Chicago Project Coordinator.

UIC College of Medicine Dean, Joseph Flaherty, MD (Left), and Washington Square Health Foundation’s Executive Director, Howard Nochumson, discuss the Chicago Project’s goal of finding a functional cure for diabetes in the next five years during the project’s kick-off dinner.

Robert and Diane Dow of Joliet and Thomas Layden, MD, Head of the Department of Medicine at UIC (Left), were among the interested guests at the Chicago Project dinner.

For further information, visit www.thechicagoproject.org

The May 7, 2004 “How to Develop a Successful Grant Proposal” Workshop was a big hit. The second workshop of the year brought together individuals from 32 Chicagoland nonprofit organizations.

The participants represented service organizations from major Chicago hospitals, to women’s shelters, free clinics, school based health centers, mental health agencies, and service organizations targeted towards the elderly, and children, among others.

Once again, the workshop was held in the UIC School of Public Health’s Washington Square Health Foundation Multimedia Community Conference Center where we were able to utilize the high-tech facility to reach out to a broader audience of potential future grantees.

The majority of participants were from agencies that had never received grants from Washington Square Health Foundation. Other organizations had received grants in years past, though not recently.

The morning began with “Welcoming Remarks” from the Foundation’s Grant Committee Chairman, William N. Werner, MD, MPH. Dr. Werner shared the history of the Foundation and imparted on the attendees the ideology of giving that inspires the Board of Directors to make so many Chicagoland grants possible.

An overview of key aspects that the Foundation requires to fund a grant was presented by Executive Director Howard Nochumson, including which areas the Foundation funds, and which ones it does not fund. Program Assistant Katy Tyrrell concluded the large group presentations by discussing the administrative aspects that are so often overlooked once a proposal is ready to be submitted. During the second half of the workshop, the participants were divided into three groups led by our two consultants, Mary Driscoll, RN, MPH, and Kathleen Pietschmann, RN, ND, CS, and Executive Director Howard Nochumson.

Participants brought in one-page descriptions of their proposal ideas for discussion and idea sharing. In some cases collaborative projects were born out of this unique networking opportunity. In most cases, individuals learned whether or not their specific project was a fundable grant, and if not, what might be fundable, or what aspect could be changed in order to make it fundable.

With the guidance of the group leaders, general questions about grant writing were answered as well as a more specific explanation on the unique and integral aspects of a “successful” grant proposal to Washington Square Health Foundation. It was an exciting and valuable day for all involved.

On December 5, 2003 Washington Square Health Foundation hosted a training session for a select number of grantees with help from the Foundation’s Grant Committee Chairman William N. Werner, MD, MPH, Executive Director Howard Nochumson, and Consultants Kathleen Pietschmann, RN, ND, CS, and Mary Driscoll RN, MPH.

Executive Director Howard Nochumson engages the group with humor as he guides them in key aspects of a fundable grant.		Consultant Kathleen Pietschmann (back right) examines proposal abstracts and informs the group on what a successful proposal should look like, while Mary Driscoll (front group, 2nd from the right), facilitates a discussion on how to match an organization’s needs with the Foundation’s.

In Summary . . .

As you know, the last two years have seen a marked decline in foundation assets across the country and its resulting effect on grant distributions to not-for-profit agencies. Therefore, Washington Square Health Foundation conducted the “Grant In-Service Workshop” on December 5, 2003, to help select grantees prepare proposals that will provide for the services they need and which are fundable by our Foundation as well as others. It was held in the Washington Square Health Foundation funded, UIC School of Public Health’s Washington Square Health Foundation Multimedia Community Conference Center. The workshop was designed to enhance the organizations’ funding prospects, and it was a great success.

As the thirty workshop participants arrived indoors out from our first Chicago snow of the season, they were greeted with breakfast and settled in for welcoming remarks by Grant Committee Chairman William N. Werner, MD, MPH who gave a history of the Foundation and spoke of the meaning of Washington Square’s grant making; the community-based philosophy that drives the Board of Directors to guide the Foundation’s giving in the areas and programs that can be of the most benefit to those they serve.

It was an inspiring beginning to a valuable day of learning. At the close of Dr. Werner’s comments, Executive Director Howard Nochumson addressed the grantees and made full use of the advanced technology in the Washington Square Health Foundation Multimedia Community Conference Center. Using the touch-to-click screen instead of a mouse, he walked the grantees through the Washington Square website, showing them the types of grants that the Foundation has funded in the past and that have made a significant impact.

He continued, guiding them through the grant application process transitioning between the website, his PowerPoint Presentation, and an overhead projector, to drive home the components of a proposal that are so necessary to a successful project, and that are too often overlooked. Upon conclusion of these remarks the workshop participants were invited to gather in three small groups to discuss and receive feedback on the one-page proposal abstract, that was their “ticket” into the workshop. Howard Nochumson and the consultants, Kathleen Pietschmann, RN, ND, CS and Mary Driscoll, RN, MPH, facilitated the groups.

Each group discussion was led in a manner unique to its facilitator. All three methods worked marvelously well for the individuals involved, as was apparent by the enthusiastic responses to both the one-on-one, and group discussions. The workshop made excellent use of the space and materials available. In minutes the room went from a classroom setting to a more intimate and lively room speckled with clusters of tables and chairs filled with discourses about grant writing styles, and specific aspects that must be incorporated.

Discussions arose on a variety of topics:

• As new ideas and trends in health care evolve, does the definition of Washington Square’s funding areas evolve as well?
• What is health care now?
• How should grantees evaluate their programs?
• How should the grantee measure quantifiable outcomes?
• With whom should they collaborate and in what ways?

At the close of the sessions the guests gave an overwhelmingly positive response to the format and information shared. Important contacts were made within the organizations represented at the workshop.

Participants lingered after the conclusion of the workshop to speak with potential new colleagues, and consultants and staff to ask for additional information that might pertain to their specific grant writing and to congratulate them on a job well-done.

Dr. Ronald D. Wise
The Washington Square Health Foundation has recently just completed sponsoring a series of three lectures, presented by DR Ronald D. Wise dealing with Dermatology, for the Noon Conference Series for Medical Residents at Advocate Christ Medical Center, in Oaklawn, IL. The topics and schedule were as follows:

• Skin Cancers -Held October 29, 2002
• Skin Manifestations of Systemic Diseases - Held January 30, 2003
• Bullous Dermatoses/Steven-Johnson's Syndrome - Held March 25, 2003