Just as the Grady Health System has been undergoing a transformation, so has the Grady Health Foundation.
Established 14 years ago to support the operations of Grady Hospital, the foundation has just doubled the size of its board and is bolstering its community presence and fundraising efforts.
Several of the new board members represent companies that have made major gifts toward the $325 million Grady capital campaign, aimed at upgrading the hospital’s technology and facilities.
“We want their time and talent in addition to their dollars,” explained Lisa Borders, president of the Grady Health Foundation. “We are rebuilding the board in two ways — going to people who have invested in the hospital and get them to stay involved and looking for the skill sets we need to sustain the foundation and support the health system.”
The foundation board also has a new chairman, Peter Andruszkiewicz, president of Kaiser Permanente of Georgia Inc. (Former chairman Henry Grady III, great-great-grandson of New South leader Henry Grady, for whom the hospital is named, is serving on the hospital board.) During the capital campaign, Kaiser Permanente was one of the first major contributors giving $5 million. That led to Pete Correll and Tom Bell, the two key executives who led the transformation of Grady Hospital, to ask him to serve on the foundation.
“We want to tell the story about the new Grady, and its a great time to be part of the team trying to tell that story,” Andruszkiewicz said. “The potential and future for Grady is to become more of a destination for paying patients.”
So far, $306 million of the $325 million capital campaign has been raised in the past two years. The campaign started with a $200 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. Now Grady leaders are working on a broader-based community campaign to raise the remaining $19 million.
At the same time, the Grady Health Foundation is looking to double its annual fundraising efforts from $3 million to $6 million within the next year. The money raised by the Grady Foundation goes to support the hospitals annual operations.
New foundation board members include:
Ada Lee Correll, a philanthropist and civic leader who is chairing the development committee;
Leon Haley, Grady Hospitals medical director, who is the foundation’s vice chair for clinical affairs;
John Loomis, vice president of human resources for GE Technology Infrastructure (GE has given Grady $1 million in in-kind services);
Jeff Robertson, vice president of the SkyMiles Program for Delta Air Lines Inc. (Delta has given Grady $2 million);
Ric Schank, senior vice president and manager of operational risk processes for SunTrust Banks Inc. (SunTrust has given Grady $2.5 million);
David Smith, senior vice president of commercial and industrial banking for Regions Bank;
Elizabeth Spiegel, a civic volunteer who has served on Grady’s board of visitors; and Cheryl Yarbrough, a partner with the Tarpley & Underwood accounting firm.
As for Andruszkiewicz, he is thrilled to be playing such a major community role after only two years in Atlanta.
“I’ve moved seven times in my 25-year career, and I’ve never been in a place that is this welcoming,” Andruszkiewicz said. “It expects you to be part of the community. People here want to be part of the solution.”
Published by Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 11, 2010, Maria Saporta
