Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Development
Pinnacle Society convenes
All Photos by: Mark Austin-Washburn
The leadership of Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center recently hosted the members of DHMC's Pinnacle Society at a convivial luncheon in their honor. Dartmouth Medical School Dean John Baldwin, M.D.; Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic President Thomas Colacchio, M.D., and Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital President James Varnum were all on hand to welcome the Society members to the luncheon and to thank them for their generous support of DHMC throughout the year. The Pinnacle Society was established in 1999 to recognize donors who make substantial planned gifts to the Medical School, the Hospital, or the Clinic.
This year's luncheon featured a presentation by Peter Silberfarb, M.D., chair of the Department of Psychiatry, who described some of the nationally significant research being done in the department.
Among those enjoying the information- sharing and fellowship at the event were 1 William Wilson of Hanover, who is now retired but was for many years the executive director of MHMH; 2 Henry Fuller of Marlborough, N.H. (left) and Edward Hamilton of Hanover (right), shown chatting here with Clinic President Tom Colacchio; 3 Edmund and Lynn Kohn of Cornwall, N.Y., pictured here with MHMH President Jim Varnum; 4 Madith Hamilton of Hanover and DHMC's new vice president for development, Brian Lally; 5 Fritz and Ela Cluthe of Short Hills, N.J., pictured here with luncheon speaker Peter Silberfarb; and 6 Edward Hamilton, pictured again, this time with DMS Dean John Baldwin.
No person has ever been honored for what he
received. Honor is our reward for what we give.
— Calvin Coolidge
A margin of excellence
By Sandy Adams
Unrestricted support—gifts large and small from donors who say, in effect, "Use this as you think best"—has always been essential in providing a margin of excellence for the medical education, scientific research, and patient care that occurs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Jan and Bill Wesson are DHMC patients as well as donors. They have found their care at Dartmouth to be efficient and genuine, and they believe deeply in DHMC's role as a health-care provider for northern New England. Residents of New London, N.H., and of Barbados, the Wessons provide significant support to DHMC and call it "an incredible asset to the Upper Valley and the whole region."
Harold Smith* has also been a patient at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Earlier this year, he sent DHMC $5 and enclosed a note with his check. "I am currently working very little," he wrote, "and money is tight, but I felt that after your hospital wrote off much of my bill because of my lack of insurance and inability to pay, the least I could do was send this. It's not much, but every little bit helps."
The Wessons' devoted giving and Harold Smith's small but very noble gesture both exemplify philanthropy that is close to the heart and close to home. Both made gifts to the annual giving program because of their personal experiences with DHMC, and they allowed their gifts to be used wherever they were needed most. This sort of unrestricted giving to DHMC represents a vital investment in the future of the region's health care and serves to advance important research and the training of tomorrow's scientists and physicians.
When a donor makes a gift that has no restrictions on its use, DHMC's leadership can then direct the money where the need or opportunity is greatest. These unrestricted funds provide priceless flexibility when unexpected opportunities arise and give DHMC the capability to respond quickly to improve or augment health care delivery, research initiatives, or educational programs.
A common method of making an unrestricted gift to DHMC is to write a check or make a gift of securities through one of the Medical Center's two annual funds—the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Annual Fund or the Dartmouth Medical School Annual Fund. Last year, donors like the Wessons and Harold Smith gave more than $1,000,000 through these two annual giving programs, adding immeasurably to the quality of health care, medical education, and biomedical research at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
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In recent years, donors who have made unrestricted gifts have contributed enormously to the institution's ability to provide financial aid and scholarship funds for DMS students. Unrestricted funds also provide a critical portion of the financial underpinnings that enable DHMC to provide charitable care for anyone who may need it, regardless of his or her ability to pay. Unrestricted giving assists in the purchase and upgrading of life-saving equipment, such as special incubators for tiny patients in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit or a sophisticated analyzer used in studying genetics. Unrestricted giving helps the DHMC leadership to develop vital services that can assist people throughout northern New England, like the Dartmouth- Hitchcock Air Response Team (DHART) helicopter and its specially- trained personnel, or to offer a breast-cancer support group for women in the Upper Valley.
Unrestricted gifts to Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center benefit a wide variety of vital programs and services at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, and Dartmouth Medical School. To make a gift through the annual giving program, write to Lisa Webster Drucker, Director of Annual Giving, at the Office of Development, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756, or call her at 603/650-4044. An online pledge may also be made, at http://dms.dartmouth.edu/dms_alum/pledgedev/pldg.html.
For, as Harold Smith noted, every little bit truly does help!
*Name changed for confidentiality.
By Lisa Webster Drucker
Director of Annual Giving
603/650-4044
Dartmouth Medical School Annual Fund: Thanks to the many alumni who answered the calls from DMS student volunteers during our annual fall phonathon, gifts and pledges during October brought in over $45,000. This generous support has put us on a trajectory toward meeting our ambitious year-end goal. Remember—every gift helps to support student scholarships, current research activities, and innovative training opportunities at Dartmouth Medical School. For more information on making a gift to the DMS Annual Fund, please call 603/650-4044.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Annual
Fund: We have set our sights high
in FY01 and are well on our way
to a very successful year. As we
close in on the calendar-year's
end, we have already received over
110 new gifts from grateful
patients. Such support is a wonderful
example of our expanding
group of friends who support
Dartmouth-Hitchcock with unrestricted
gifts. This type of philanthropy
provides the Medical
Center with the flexibility to
respond quickly to the most pressing
needs and to endorse important
new initiatives. Many thanks
to all of our DHAF donors who
keep this vital resource pumping!