GLMF 2006 Annual Report:Layout 1 - Gundersen Health System

2006 Annual Report
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation

Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation’s
mission is to enhance and support quality
healthcare with an emphasis on medical
education and health/wellness education,
as well as clinically-based research and
community health outreach.
The Family is the logo of Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation. The
larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of The Family has greeted patients to
Gundersen Lutheran since 1985. The statue was commissioned by the
Foundation, created by local sculptor Mr. Elmer Petersen, and financed
predominantly by La Crosse philanthropist Mr. Charles Gelatt.
Editor
Jill Blokhuis, Associate Director of Development
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation
We welcome comments or suggestions from our readers.
Photography
Brooke Olson, John Sake and Jim Tritch
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Media
Copywriting
Leslie Wegener, Juniper Hill Partners
Design
Stephanie DuCharme, Severson Design
This annual report is published by Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation
for friends and supporters of the Foundation. To learn more about the
Foundation’s medical education, research and community health outreach
programs, or to inquire about making a charitable gift, please visit us at
www.gundluth.org/foundation or call the Foundation office at (608) 775-6600.
© 2006 Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation

Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation
2006 Annual Report

A Message from the Chairman
Journey. That single word is the nearly perfect metaphor for how we approach our work at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation. It implies
a constant state of progress and awareness of the past, the present and the future. Where we were, where we are, and where we are going.
A journey represents a defined course of traveling. For us, that course is defined by our mission. The Foundation exists to enhance and support
quality healthcare for our patients. Period. That is our destination, the ever-present goal that beckons from the horizon. To get there, we focus on
medical education and health/wellness education. We focus on clinically-based research. And we focus on community health outreach. We work
our way steadily, with unflagging commitment; we help each other, inspire each other, learn from each other along the way.
We focus on the journey. Because in truth, the journey is what matters most. Ours is a destination that has no end
point; enhancing healthcare quality means always pushing outward to that forward edge. Our journey is one of
continuous advancement and improvement. Good is never good enough, nor should it be when it comes to the care
of our patients, or the health and well-being of the communities we serve.
On a journey such as ours, good company makes the way seem shorter. As friends and supporters of Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation,
you provide the resources that make progress possible. Your investment in our mission fuels each remarkable accomplishment as we move
ever forward on your behalf. Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Mark V. Connelly, MD, Chairman of the Board
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Mark V. Connelly, MD
and Foundation staff.

Quality healthcare...that is the ever-present goal that beckons from the horizon.”
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We are all at our best when fully engaged in
a journey toward established goals.
For Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, our
mission is the road map; each new year gives us reason
to pause and contemplate the milestones your gifts
make possible.
2006 marked the first accreditation site visit for the
Foundation’s Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery
Fellowship program, which earned full accreditation
for three years. The Surgical Review Corporation
recently designated Gundersen Lutheran as a “Bariatric
Center of Excellence.”
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education (ACGME) conducted its site visit to review
the Transitional Year Residency program in late 2006,
granting temporary permission to increase the program
size from 10 to 12 residents per year.
Clinical Research expanded in 2006 with the addition
of a new research site at the Gundersen Lutheran
Onalaska Clinic. Patients have access to more research
trials through a wide variety of participating departments.
The UW-La Crosse/Gundersen Lutheran/Mayo
Physician’s Assistant (PA) Training Program
graduated its first Master’s level class in May, 2006.
All of this year’s graduates passed their certification
exam on the first attempt.
As the Western Clinical Campus for the University
of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
(UW-SMPH), the Foundation provided undergraduate
“core clerkships” for 125 third-year medical students in
2006. UW-SMPH medical students also completed 59
elective clinical rotations at Gundersen Lutheran.
An innovative program to encourage UW-SMPH medical
school graduates to practice in rural areas is being developed
with participation of Gundersen Lutheran staff
physicians Kimberly Lansing, MD, and David H. Chestnut,
MD, Director of Medical Education for the Foundation.
The new Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine
(WARM) is targeted to address the projected future
shortage of physicians in the state.
In 2006, the Foundation’s Continuing Medical Education
program offered over 360 CME hours through weekday
conferences, and hosted 30 postgraduate symposia which
drew 1200 attendees from throughout the region.
Foundation sponsored-research, under the leadership
of William Agger, MD, produced a broad range of research
and scholarly activity in 2006. Seventy-six papers
and eight books or book chapters were published, and
82 local, regional, and national presentations were made
during the year.
Editorial leadership of the Foundation’s research publication,
the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Journal, changed
hands in 2006. Richard Reynertson, MD, who served as the
Journal’s editor and champion since the 1991 inaugural
issue, was succeeded by David Hartman, PhD, BC-NCD(A).
The Foundation’s PharmD Residency program
continues to thrive and will be expanded to include one
additional resident, beginning in July of 2007.
Twelve students were selected for the Foundation’s
Summer Research Fellowship program in 2006; one
Fellow published two original research articles in 2006,
a second Fellow’s research has been accepted for
publication in 2007.
Microbiology Research staff formalized an agreement
with scientists at the University of Arkansas in 2006 to validate
and market a Lyme disease test for point-of-care use.
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Hematology/Oncology Research staff participated in
the research activities of six national or regional cooperative
cancer research groups in 2006, with the Gundersen
Lutheran Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders serving
as either a primary site or affiliate site through the
University of Wisconsin or Medical College of Wisconsin.
The Foundation awarded more than 900 grants in
support of Community Health Outreach initiatives in
2006. Representative projects range from support for
the new Marsh View Walking Trail located on the
Gundersen Lutheran Onalaska Campus, acquisition of
training handbooks to expedite certification of
Gundersen Lutheran stroke care providers on new
emergency standards issued by the National Institute of
Health, and the community awareness series, Healthy
Living IV: Peace of Mind, sponsored in collaboration with
the La Crosse Tribune and WXOW TV-19.
The Children’s Miracle Network ® , a service of
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, allocated over
$740,000 in grants to projects in support of children and
youth in the Tri-state Region, with over 1,000 families benefiting
from direct assistance for needs ranging from meal
and transportation costs, respite care, specialized medical
equipment or services, and more.
The Foundation’s Bereavement Services program
and Respecting Choices ® , an evidence-based program
for advance care planning, launched new online training
courses in 2006. The learning modules are designed to
extend these nationally-renowned programs and best
practices to healthcare professionals and community
organizations around the world. In 25 years of caring
(1981-2006), the Bereavement Services program has
trained more than 30,000 caregivers in perinatal loss.
The Foundation experienced a surge of major gifts in
the final quarter of 2006 resulting from federal tax code
changes in the Pension Protection Act signed into law
in August. The new provision allowing charitable
rollover gifts from Individual Retirement Account assets
remains in effect through 2007, providing continued incentives
for this manner of gift by a wide range of donors.
Over 18,000 gifts were received by Gundersen
Lutheran Medical Foundation in calendar year 2006,
not including the countless contributions of time and
expertise from Board members, committee members,
and other volunteers. Such good company in our
journey makes each passing moment worthwhile.
Highlights for the year 2006.
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