CHICAGO, Nov. 24 -- Northwestern Memorial Hospital received a commitment of almost $5 million from the F.H. Prince 1932 Trust that was established by colorful Boston Capitalist, Fredrick Henry Prince (1859-1953), as directed by descendants of his well-known and personally selected successor, the late Mr. William Wood Prince. Mr. Wood Prince is the former chairman and chief executive of Chicago meatpacking giant, Armour & Co and former Chairman of F. H. Prince & Co., a private investment company. The generous gift was earmarked by the Wood-Prince family supports three specific program areas including nursing leadership, cardiovascular outcomes and leading-edge research studies and novel patient care projects being conducted at Northwestern.
"We are grateful for the longstanding commitment to Northwestern Memorial by one of Chicago's most charitable families," said Dean M. Harrison, President and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. For more than 25 years, the late Mr. Wood Prince was a trustee of Passavant Memorial Hospital, one of Northwestern Memorial's founding institutions. "It's been among our greatest honors to have his support continue through his sons and their wives and children, several of whom sit on The Woman's Board of Northwestern Memorial today."
"As the children and grandchildren of William Wood Prince, we consider it an honor and a privilege to be able to support Northwestern Memorial Hospital in this way. On behalf of the Wood-Prince family, we are pleased to direct this donation from The Frederick Henry Prince Memorial Fund,"
said Wendy Wood-Prince Sherman.
The gift will endow the existing Eleanor Wood Prince Grants Initiative; a Project of The Woman's Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital which was named in honor of Mr. Wood Prince's late wife Eleanor, the beloved matriarch of the Wood-Prince family and a dedicated member of The Woman's Board for more than 60 years. Established in 2001, the Eleanor Wood Prince Grants Initiative is a unique, competitive grants process that helps fund vital medical, nursing and management projects at Northwestern Memorial. To date, nearly $900,000 has been awarded to more than 35 grant recipients, all of whom are united in their quest to improve patient care. With this gift the Eleanor Wood Prince Grants initiative will now last in perpetuity.
The gift also establishes the Outcomes Management Program within Northwestern Memorial's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and names the Wood-Prince Family Chief Nurse Executive position in recognition of a new nursing endowment which will support nursing initiatives for patient care leadership training and education. The Wood-Prince Family Chief Nurse Executive position is the hospital's first and only endowed executive seat, which joins the ranks of a limited few of its kind nationally. Northwestern Memorial Senior Vice President Michelle Janney, RN, PhD, NEA-BC will be Northwestern Memorial's first chief nursing executive to hold the endowed seat.
"A gift of this stature lends additional honor and prestige to our nursing program," says Janney. "The Wood-Prince family's generosity will go a long way in enabling Northwestern Memorial to continue to innovate, advance patient care, patient safety and outstanding quality outcomes for patients." Northwestern Memorial's nursing program is a leader in nurse training and education and has achieved Magnet Status, the gold standard for nursing excellence. "Our nurses appreciate being recognized in this way."
Northwestern Memorial Hospital is one of the country's premier academic medical centers and is the primary teaching hospital of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Along with its Prentice Women's Hospital and Stone Institute of Psychiatry, the hospital comprises 854 beds, over 1,600 affiliated physicians and over 7,000 employees. Northwestern Memorial is recognized for providing exemplary patient care and state-of-the art advancements in the areas of cardiovascular care; women's health; oncology; neurology and neurosurgery; solid organ and soft tissue transplants and orthopaedics.
Northwestern Memorial possesses nursing Magnet Status, the nation's highest recognition for patient care and nursing excellence, and it is listed in 11 clinical specialties in U.S. News & World Report's 2009 "America's Best Hospitals" guide. For 10 years running, it has been rated among the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" guide by Working Mother magazine. The hospital is a recipient of the prestigious National Quality Health Care Award and has been chosen by Chicagoans as their "most preferred hospital" according to the National Research Corporation's annual survey for 15 years.
SOURCE Northwestern Memorial Hospital
