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Transforming Medicine Campaign

Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky

The why and how

By Barbra Alan

The Transforming Medicine Campaign for Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is the largest campaign ever for both organizations.Why is such an ambitious effort necessary?

While DMS and DHMC consistently rank among the nation's finest such institutions, this does not protect them from economic, political, and social pressures that threaten all academic medical centers. Profound changes are jeopardizing the funding Dartmouth can expect to receive from government and private payors.

"We simply can't keep doing more of the same," says Dr. Thomas Colacchio, president of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic."We will find ways to operate ever more effectively and efficiently. . . . We are also working to stop further cutbacks in reimbursements, and to work constructively with policy-makers to address problems in the nation's health-care system."

Another key step is letting the communities served by DHMC and DMS know that their help is needed now more than ever, says Brian Lally, vice president for development. "Philanthropy plays a critically important role," Lally explains. "In looking for ways to continue developing our excellent services and medical education programs,we examined what it might take to sustain our healthy trajectory. It became very clear very quickly that bringing our community into the equation was necessary and hugely beneficial for us all."

"The rationale behind our campaign is not simply growth," says Dr. Stephen Spielberg, dean of DMS."The support we seek is for people, ideas, programs, and the associated facilities needed for us to continuously improve our service to those in need . . . based on the deep conviction that DMS and DHMC have responsibility for, and, in fact, have already begun, the process of transforming medicine."

As of mid-August 2005, commitments to

Educating the next generation of physicians and scientists. Pictured here is Dr. Joseph O'Donnell teaching a hematology class.

the campaign had topped $106 million." This is an extraordinary response," Lally says."We have already exceeded totals we've raised in any previous campaign. Our community is with us, and for that we are very grateful." But, he notes, of the $250-million goal, $152 million is earmarked for endowment and capital projects." Historically, institutional funders have been DHMC's and DMS's primary benefactors. But to develop the level of funding we need for this campaign, we need a strong commitment from individuals as well," says Lally.

Endowment
Assets that are invested for the long term are known as endowment. Only the income can be spent, leaving the principal to grow and ensure the institution's future stability. Endowment gifts support research initiatives; fund endowed chairs; and enhance the clinical academic environment.

Continuing contributions to the endowment from alumni, grateful patients, community members, and other friends are vital to sustaining DMS and DHMC's excellence for many years to come.

Alfred Griggs, chair of the DHMC Trustees, notes that "only with philanthropic dollars can we fulfill the extraordinary promise and potential of these great institutions."

Capital
Robust and growing research and educational programs; atcapacity patient-care buildings; and aging labs, classrooms, and offices on the Hanover campus all drive the need to renovate and build facilities.

To meet these capital needs, Transforming Medicine is generating funding for a variety of projects, including new DMS facilities on the DHMC campus that will connect to the Borwell Research Building. The plans include a new home for Dartmouth's famous Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences (CECS), to enhance its educational programs and its effort to improve health-care delivery, and a new Translational Research Building (TRB), to house labs dedicated to interdisciplinary research in neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, immunology, infectious disease, and pulmonary


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Barbra Alan is assistant director of development communications for the Medical School and Medical Center.

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