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Donor Profile: Turners Are the Cream of the Crop
Tim Turner
In 2005, Turner Dairy Farms celebrated its
75th anniversary by donating $50,000 to The
Western Pennsylvania Hospital – Forbes
Regional Campus capital campaign. That
generous gift is just part of the history of
support that the Turner family has always
shown for Forbes – three generations of
Turners have actively supported the Forbes
mission since the hospital opened its doors.
fall • 2007
“My grandfather, Charles G. Turner, was
very active in raising funds to build Forbes,
and we are pleased to support the Hospital’s
renovation and expansion,” said Tim Turner,
vice president of operations. Since 1990
(which is as far back as Forbes Health
Foundation records go), Turner Dairy Farms
has committed a total of $88,175 to the
Hospital and Hospice.
Tim Turner believes that the company has
an obligation to the community and to Turner
Dairy Farms employees. “My grandfather’s
principles were Perfect Products, Perfect
Service, and Treat People Right. We strive to
uphold those principles every day,” Tim
Turner said. That attitude has earned Turner
Dairy a spot on the “50 Best Places to Work
in Pennsylvania” list in 2005 and 2006.
Part of “treating people right” includes supporting
initiatives that promote community
health, Tim Turner said. That commitment
goes beyond signing checks for nonprofit
organizations: Turner Dairy, for example, buys
only from local dairy farms that certify their
cows are not treated with recombinant
Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) growth hormone.
Forbes Regional Rates as Only Pennsylvania Hospital
with Top Heart Failure Treatment
In a recent federal study of heart failure
death rates, The Western Pennsylvania
Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus scored
as the only hospital in Pennsylvania – and
one of just 38 hospitals in the country – to
have better-than-average results when compared
to 4,453 hospitals across the country.
West Penn Hospital – Forbes Regional
Campus’ performance puts it among an
elite group of hospitals, in the report
issued this summer by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services. The CMS,
aiming to promote quality and inform consumers,
is addressing heart attack and
heart failure death rates for the first time
after previously posting death rates for
pneumonia and surgical complications.
The report takes hospitals’ 30-day
mortality rates for patients with heart
failure or a heart attack, adjusts the rates to
account for sicker patients and compares
them to the national average. The vast
majority of U.S. hospitals showed mortality
rates no different than the national average
of 16 percent for heart attack patients and
11 percent for heart failure patients.
Just 38 of the nation's hospitals, including
West Penn Hospital – Forbes Regional
Campus, showed heart failure death rates
better than the national average. Only 17
hospitals showed better-than-average
results for heart attack victims.
Parminder K. Sharma, MD, chief of
the Division of Cardiology at West Penn
Hospital – Forbes Regional Campus,
credited aggressive and timely treatment
for the hospital’s top-ranking performance
in treating heart failure.
“West Penn Hospital – Forbes Regional
Campus does a good job of providing key
interventions to heart failure patients,”
Dr. Sharma said. For example, West Penn
Hospital – Forbes Regional ranked above
Turner Dairy’s commitment to quality and
health makes involvement with Forbes a
natural fit, said Chuck Turner Jr., president.
“Our business is all about people,” he said,
and making sure that the community is
served by a top-quality healthcare facility is
part of Turner’s mission.
Turner Dairy employees follow the example
set by the Turner family. When Charles G.
Turner died, employees made a donation to
Forbes Hospice in his honor. Later, a fund
was created in his name, and $25,000 in
donations made its way from Turner Dairy to
the Hospice fund.
“It’s just part of our belief and
philosophy,” Tim Turner said.
“We believe we have the
duty – and the
privilege – to
give back to the
community.”
the national average in providing smoking
cessation counseling to patients, in
evaluating left ventricular systolic function,
an important test which shows how the
heart is pumping, and in prescribing
ACE inhibitors and ARBs (medicines
that are particularly beneficial to patients
with decreased function in the left side
of the heart).
The Hospital's impressive performance
shows how West Penn's continual emphasis
on quality is benefiting patients, said
Alan H. Gradman, MD, chief of the
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases at
The Western Pennsylvania Hospital.
“We strive to stay focused, every day, on
quality,” Dr. Gradman said. “I commend
the physicians, nurses and other professionals
who display the highest levels of
commitment and expertise as they care for
our cardiac patients.”
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