It’s hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner and soon we will be welcoming in a new year. This year, as in past years, we are grateful for your continuing support. Every dollar you gave this year, made a difference in the lives of patients and their families not just for the moment, but for the moments to come. Thank you.
Your gift to Adventist HealthCare is a gift to your neighbors and your community. Philanthropy matters. Here, we share with you the many ways your generosity is making a difference to patients and their families, and to others who will need care in the future.
Thank you for being a valued partner in philanthropy!
With gratitude,
Andrew Dziuban Vice President, Philanthropy and Donor Relations
Gift of Gratitude
In May, Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, which is the flagship hospital of Montgomery County’s largest and longest-serving healthcare system, received a $1 million gift from The Lee Family of Potomac. This substantial contribution will support completion of a six-story patient tower now under construction.
A family representative said the donation was an expression of deep gratitude for exceptional care that a loved one experienced in Shady Grove Medical Center’s Emergency Department. “Thanks to the many skilled clinicians in the E.D., she was very quickly stabilized, diagnosed, and treated. Just as important, at every step in the process, she was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. Given the circumstances, her experience could not have been any better.”
The hospital will acknowledge The Lee Family’s commitment to community health in the tower’s first-floor entry corridor. To read more click here.
To keep abreast of progress with the tower visit here.
Thanks to the many skilled clinicians in the E.D., she was very quickly stabilized, diagnosed, and treated. Given the circumstances, her experience could not have been any better.
The medical team asked me to name a goal, and I said I wanted to be 90% recovered within six months. I have achieved that. I can do everything I did before. Now, I am just a bit more deliberate.
Why Give?
Because philanthropy matters to patients who rely on the exceptional care delivered by compassionate team members throughout the system. Patients like 63-year-old retiree, Kevin Vaillant, who not once but twice turned to Adventist HealthCare when faced with serious health challenges.
Kevin was treated successfully for cancer at Aquilino Cancer Center. Then, two weeks after retiring from a 40-year career in information technology, Kevin fell and fractured his hip. He traveled to Shady Grove Medical Center by ambulance, was admitted and two days later had an emergency hip replacement. “The care team established goals and a routine for me quickly,” he said. “Within a day, I had to move to a chair instead of sitting on the bed. The team had an aggressive plan in place to control my pain and progress toward my leaving the hospital.”
He made good progress but when ready to leave the hospital he opted for a stint at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Rockville hoping to restore himself to full strength and mobility as quickly as possible. Ten days of intensive physical therapy to build strength and range of motion along with occupational therapy to hone his abilities to complete activities of daily living prepared him to go home on Christmas Eve, two days ahead of schedule.
“Everyone at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Rockville was so helpful, and the care and food were great,” says Kevin. “It speaks to the quality of care I received that a small part of me missed the hospital when I left. It was almost like leaving a friend.”
“The medical team asked me to name a goal, and I said I wanted to be 90% recovered within six months,” adds Kevin. “I have achieved that. I can do everything I did before. Now, I am just a bit more deliberate.”
Living the Mission
Todd Cohen brings a unique perspective to his job as Associate Vice President of Facilities, Real Estate, Design and Construction with Adventist HealthCare. It’s a perspective shaped by his interests and education, to be sure, but also his lived experiences and his faith. This is why he gives so cheerfully of his time, talent and treasure to Adventist HealthCare, to his synagogue and to his community.
“I feel strongly that if you are able to work where you live then you should contribute to the community,” says Todd. “My wife and I donate to causes quite purposefully around that. Our faith instructs us to give a percentage of our harvest, our experiences inform where we give those gifts.”
He also gives where he can when he can because Adventist HealthCare doctors and therapists saved his life and restored him to health and wholeness, twice. First when COVID so compromised his breathing he required pulmonary rehabilitation, and more recently when an initial diagnosis of an aggressive form of stomach cancer turned out to be a highly treatable neuroendocrine tumor.
Both experiences were transformative shaping how he saw his work with Adventist HealthCare and reinforcing his already strong sense of mission. During the pandemic, Todd worked on capacity planning that brought him to Fort Washington Medical Center. There he saw health disparities firsthand, and he knew that creating health facilities for those who don’t have access was part of his life’s work.
When in pulmonary rehabilitation at Shady Grove Medical Center, he could see where the new patient tower that he conceived of and persuaded leadership to pursue would stand and he knew that he was doing the work he was meant to do. “I literally couldn’t walk across the parking lot, but could see a shared vision becoming reality,” comments Todd. “I plan to work with Adventist HealthCare for many years. And I will never stop giving.”
My wife and I donate to causes quite purposefully around that. Our faith instructs us to give a percentage of our harvest, our experiences inform where we give those gifts.
Updates from Around the System
2024 Adventist HealthCare
Lucy Byard Scholarship Winners
On October 1, 2024, we turned the Support Center’s Learning and Conference Center into an Autumn-themed dining experience to celebrate this year’s recipients of the Lucy Byard Scholarship. As each awardee was invited to the stage to accept their scholarship, Ann Roda, VP Mission Integration & Spiritual Care, spoke of the hardships they had overcome to fulfill their dream of becoming a nurse. Their stories were inspirational.
This year’s recipients are:
• Marissa McCarthy – Howard University
• Emani Taylor – Howard University
• Estefany Cruz – Washington Adventist University
• Emefa Sevon – University of Maryland, Baltimore
Triumph Trek Fun Run & Health Fair 2024
In recognition of National Rehabilitation Week, September 16 – 22, 2024, Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation and Adventist HealthCare Home Care Services hosted the inaugural Triumph Trek Fun Run & Health Fair.
This year we expanded on the well-established, always well attended Amputee Awareness 5K to welcome those who have required rehabilitative services for any number of health events including physical trauma, heart attack, stroke, brain injury, amputation or some other debilitating condition.
Nearly 300 patients and their families and friends showed up on a Sunday morning to walk, wheel or run the track, visit with the many community partners tabling at the event and enjoy some tasty morsels from the food trucks. There also were activities just for the kids. More than $35,000 was donated to the Patient Assistance Fund through peer-to-peer fundraising.
Two outstanding community members were recognized for their hard work and commitment to bringing healing and hope to so many. Cecilia Snyder, CRNP, a long-time Nurse Practitioner, serving patients at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation with clinical skill and exceptional compassion was this years’ Clinician of the Year. Hope Levy Kott was given the Patient Award for Outstanding Community Service for her dedication to ensuring the rights of people with disabilities. Both were thanked for their service.
Celebrating the Many Who Invest in Our Children
Not long ago, friends of The Lourie Center gathered for the unveiling of the Donor Wall, which honors the many who contributed to the facility expansion campaign. Fifty-one (51) individuals and Foundations donated $2.2 million to make it possible to meet the needs of more children and their families throughout our community.
Speakers at the event included, Montgomery County Council member, Gabe Albornoz, David Daniels, CEO, Bainum Family Foundation, a long-time supporter of the center and generous donor, Marcel Wright, former Executive Director of the center, and Wendy, mom to a former Lourie Center student.
Wendy spoke so eloquently about the challenges she and her husband faced as they searched for the right program for their son. She moved the audience to tears when describing how the teachers, therapists and staff of The Lourie Center embraced their son and their family and turned what sometimes seemed a hopeless situation into
the promise of a full and meaningful life for their child. Wendy’s son has completed his second year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) majoring in physics.
From left to right David Daniels, Jimmy Venza, Wendy, Terry Forde, Marcel Wright, Todd Cohen, and Dan Cochran.
Washington Business
Journal Honors Eunmee
Shim at 2024 Diversity in Business Awards
The Washington Business Journal recently selected and honored Fort Washington Medical Center’s president, Eunmee Shim, as a recipient of their 2024 Diversity in Business Award. Eunmee was recognized for her leadership in this area. A special ceremony for all honorees was held on March 21 in Washington, D.C.
“I am so humbled to accept this honor on behalf of Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center,” Eunmee said. “It was a very exciting moment to be there and celebrate this wonderful news with our team.”
In Oct. 2023, the Lown Institute bestowed FWMC with the title of Maryland’s most racially inclusive hospital, having achieved this #1 ranking out of more than 3,000 hospitals nationwide for its exemplary care in serving people of color. FWMC not only received an “A” grade for Racial Inclusivity on the 2023 – 2024 Lown Institute Hospitals Index for Social Responsibility, but also received “A” grades in Health Equity and Community Benefit. These are independent rankings and hospitals do not apply or pay to be listed.
I am so humbled to accept this honor on behalf of Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center. It was a very exciting moment to be there and celebrate this wonderful news with our team.
