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Abbott Northwestern Hospital

About the Foundation

About the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation

About the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation

Call 612-863-4126 to donate by phone or
Give now.

The Foundation’s mission is to raise, steward and disburse funds for the benefit of Abbott Northwestern Hospital and the communities we serve.

In 2009, the Foundation disbursed more than 200 grants totaling $10.5 million. These grants improved patient care by supporting such efforts as:

  • the purchase of a Linear Accelerator — new technology that allows more precise delivery of radiation therapy with less damage to healthy tissue and faster treatment times
  • research to determine if Omega-3 and Vitamin D deficiencies contribute to heart disease
  • a new program that uses volunteers to offer a quiet, caring presence for patients dying alone in the hospital.

Board of Directors

The Foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. They are members of the community and physicians who practice at Abbott Northwestern.

Officers

  • Chair: Robert Barrows, attorney
  • Vice chair: Margit Bretzke, MD, Surgical Associates of MN
  • Vice chair: Roger H.D. Lacey, senior vice president, 3M
  • Secretary: Carol Huttner, vp of operations, SpecialtyCare
  • Treasurer: Timothy Traudt, executive vice president, Wells Fargo

Directors

  • *Lee Arostegui, MD, president, Abbott Northwestern Hospital Medical Staff
  • *Ben Bache-Wiig, MD, president, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
  • *Ann Bentdahl, president, Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
  • M. Nicholas Burke, MD, Minneapolis Heart Institute
  • Richard Chaffee, Chaffee & Associates, LLC
  • Marna Fullerton, chairperson of the board and CEO, Fullerton Company
  • Penny George, PsyD
  • Linda Goldenberg
  • Sharon Hawkins
  • Marialice Harwood, publisher, DeltaSky
  • Thomas Keller, III, attorney, Moss & Barnett
  • Gloria Lewis, president and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities
  • Muffy MacMillan
  • Robert McCrea
  • *Richard Meyer, president, Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation
  • Mark Migliori, MD
  • *William M. Parham, MD, chief-of-staff, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
  • Ronald J. Poole
  • Terry Saario, PhD
  • Robert Scott, MD
  • Morris Sherman, attorney, Leonard, Street and Deinard
  • Lowell Stortz, attorney and president, Leonard, Street and Deinard
  • Emily Anne Tuttle
  • Sheldon Wert, The Shelard Group
  • Duane White

*Directors – Ex-Officio

Staff

The Foundation’s staff members are committed to carrying out our mission and serving our donors.

Contact us any time with questions or comments:

Richard Meyer, president, 612-863-4005
Meyer became president of the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation in 2007. Previously, he was vice president of organizational advancement for Minnesota Masonic Homes and director of the Children's Theatre Company's development program. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Washington in Seattle and a jurisprudence degree from the University of Minnesota.

Anne Walker Langaard, director of development, 612-863-4612
Langaard joined the staff in early 2009 and brings over 25 years of fundraising experience with her. Prior to joining the Foundation, she led the development department of the Minnesota Orchestra for five years, and served as Director of corporate & foundation giving for the Orchestra for 10 years before that. Other employment includes service as director of development for ARC and Community Health Charities Minnesota, and for Aviva Center serving runaway teens in Los Angeles. Langaard has a degree in Social Welfare from the University of Minnesota.

Stacey Behm, director, philanthropy support services, 612-262-0668

Kimberly Buggs, receptionist, 612-863-4826

Tanya Pribula Cole, annual fund manager, 612-863-7165

Stacy Elsholtz, executive assistant, 612-863-6160

Kathy Ingerson, development associate, 612-863-4006

Nellie Kallon, accounting technician, 612-262-0670

Marjorie Rolland, accounting manager, 612-262-4911

Jessica Schultz, foundation accountant, 612-262-4904

Jamie Steele, administrative assistant, 612-863-7248

Annual reports

Each year, we publish an annual report to chronicle some of the ways in which donors and contributions improve the lives of patients.

View an annual report:

Go to free Adobe Reader download site.

The Mother Baby Center’s due date is fall 2012

On Oct. 5, Abbott Northwestern, in partnership with Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, held a groundbreaking celebration for The Mother Baby Center.


Employees give generously to Abbott Northwestern

This year's Community Giving Campaign, chaired by Ben Bache-Wiig, MD, Abbott Northwestern's president, successfully raised more than $292,000—a 16 percent increase from 2010.


Celebrating an upcoming delivery for moms and babies

October is a big month for moms and babies at Abbott Northwestern. On Oct. 5, the hospital, in partnership with the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, will break ground on a new state-of-the-art birthing center with a due date of fall 2012. On Oct. 15, the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation will celebrate moms as it hosts its annual Medicine Ball.


Lavaan Stutzman remains committed to Abbott Northwestern

Twelve years after her cancer diagnosis, Lavaan Stutzman remains committed to Abbott Northwestern as a patient and a donor. She drives from her Woodbury home to the south Minneapolis hospital for her routine visits, and she is committed to supporting cancer research and patient education.





Middle school students make a difference in cancer care

When 14-year-olds Bailey Luna and Emily Wright organized a dodge ball tournament fundraiser at Olson Middle School in Bloomington, MN, the decision on where to donate funds was easy. They looked no further than the Piper Breast Center.


Gifts support cutting-edge research

At Abbott Northwestern, a passion for finding new, better and safer approaches to patient care drives clinical research. Charitable gifts are used to advance treatment and care locally, nationally and even internationally. This is seen through grants funding research being led by Robert Hauser, MD, FACC, FHRS, and his colleagues on implantable cardiac medical devices.




Foundation grants large and small make a big difference

Sometimes it’s the simple, low-cost solutions that make the biggest difference. That’s the case with grants to help Abbott Northwestern patients better manage heart disease by providing them with a scale and water bottle. Click the link above to learn more about this program and other grants that made a difference in 2010.

Holistic healing helps heart transplant patient survive

Anna Linck, 25, suffered from a serious episode of heart failure in the winter of 2010 and was told to check into Abbott Northwestern immediately.

She credits her survival with a life-saving heart transplant and the power of integrative care, offered by the Penny George™ Institute for Health and Healing.

Retired nurse gives back to leave a legacy

Sharon Mertz, RN, dedicated her entire 38-year career to Allina Hospitals & Clinics, with 25 years at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. When she retired, she didn’t stop giving back.

She co-founded a volunteer program for retired doctors and nurses to serve hospitalized patients and has made provisions in her will for a legacy gift to the Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation.


Jackie Overom with her daughter, Heather Ocel, and daughter-in-law, Jenny Overom.

Two generations of women pay it forward

Six years ago, Jackie Overom and her dear friend, Liz Maki, began hosting an annual fundraising gathering they called Dessert in the Garden. Both Overom and Maki had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

When Maki passed away in 2007, Overom was determined to carry on the event . “As long as I can plant flowers in memory of Liz, I will host this event,” said Overom, who gives the funds she collects to Abbott Northwestern's Piper Breast Center.

Richard Adair, MD, with a resident at the Medicine Clinic

Medicine Clinic offers a lifeline to the Phillips neighborhood

Located near the corner of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Abbott Northwestern’s Medicine Clinic provides cost-effective primary care to adults who live and work in the area.

Most of the clinic’s patients are underinsured, uninsured or immigrants with chronic medical conditions.

“We want people living in this community to see Abbott Northwestern as their hospital,” said Richard Adair, MD, an internal medicine physician at the Medicine Clinic.