BUNDLE of BLESSINGS LOOKE GIFT HONORS LEADERSHIP, PLATINUM PATIENT SERVICES, INFECTIOUS DISEASES RESEARCH Carole Walter Looke and Jim Looke, two of Houston Methodist’s longest-standing benefactors, were reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic. They wanted to encourage evidence-based science and pay tribute to those who have kept the public well. They decided to make a 2021 gift to Houston Methodist that served three purposes: honor Houston Methodist’s leadership, reward Platinum Patient Services employees and enable top physician-scientists to battle future pandemics through research. “I’m proud of my family’s decadeslong relationship with Houston Methodist,” says Carole Walter Looke. “They have been there for us, so we want to be there for them. We watched Houston Methodist leaders and front-line workers persevere during the pandemic. We wanted to say, ‘thank you.’” The Looke couple’s 2021 gift was made in honor of some of Houston Methodist’s top leaders, including Dr. Marc L. Boom, Houston Methodist president and CEO; Roberta L. Schwartz, executive vice president and chief innovation officer; Alice Baker, director of Platinum Patient Services; and Susan Coulter, Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation president and CEO. It sponsors memberships in The Society for Leading Medicine, Houston Methodist’s annual giving society, for all members of the Platinum team.
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“It was important to us that this gift thanked and acknowledged the tremendous efforts of those at Houston Methodist who cared for patients over the past two years,” says Carole Looke. When Platinum team members received news of their Society memberships, they were thrilled. “This gift is among the most thoughtful, generous gifts I have received in my 30-year health care career,” says Christian Cardenas Silva. The couple also wanted to acknowledge and support the physicians and scientists who provided cuttingedge treatments and prevention strategies during the pandemic. Their gift helps physician-scientists target two scientific technologies that experienced advances because of the COVID-19 pandemic: RNA therapeutics and monoclonal antibody therapy. These technologies have received enhanced publicity throughout the pandemic, and this gift will enable the physician-scientists involved to take these advances in novel directions. Center for RNA Therapeutics Vaccines to combat COVID-19 are a medical marvel, brought to market with record safety, effectiveness and speed. Still, the RNA technology can improve.
