Community Health Network Foundation

We are proud to announce four local high-school seniors have each been awarded a $3,000 It’s Our Community scholarship, which will help them earn a college healthcare degree.

This year’s recipients are:

• Mary Christy of Noblesville High School, studying biomedical engineering/pre-med at Purdue University
• Brooklyn LaMar of Center Grove High School, studying nursing at IUPUI
• Annalyssa Long of Warren Central High School, studying psychology/pre-med at Indiana University
• Weston Wright of Avon High School, studying biology/pre-med at IUPUI

Community’s It’s Our Community Healthcare Scholarship Program began in 2004 as way to develop Indiana’s health and life science workforce by encouraging Indiana college students to earn a degree and seek long-term employment in Indiana. During the past nine years, Community Health Network Foundation has funded $237,000 in It’s Our Community scholarships given to 79 students.

Congratulations!

Community Health Network Foundation’s annual Employee Giving Campaign has begun, and Community’s employees are making donations during the month of May to support our patients, employees and the Central Indiana communities we proudly serve. Learn more >>

We created a video showcasing how donors are helping us support patients, caregivers and Central Indiana communities. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OALtJMUJisM&list=UUJA54SrrVv7qRrEQSPVJ8Ug&index=6&feature=plcp

We have released our Impact Report, a look-back at the big impacts our family of donors made in 2011. The report tells how $1.5 million was used to support patients, caregivers and local communities. Read the full report >>

Bente Weitekamp has been appointed vice president of development for Community Health Network Foundation and will begin her new executive position on January 9.  She will be responsible for leading fundraising strategies that allow donors to support Community Health Network’s mission to enhance central Indiana’s health and well-being.

A successful Purdue University fundraiser for more than seven years, Bente most recently served as a director of advancement for the College of Science, where she led a team that annually raised more than $17 million. She also previously held a director of development role for the university’s Biological Sciences and Statistics departments, where she raised nearly $10 million in three years. A graduate of Ball State University, she also earned a master of arts in philanthropic studies from the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.

Michele Thomas Dole, Community Health Network Foundation president and CEO, said Bente brings a wealth of fundraising talent and leadership to Community.

“Bente is a proven fundraiser with extensive experience in donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship,” Michele said. “She is a strong addition to our team, with ethical standards and a donor-first philosophy that will support our efforts to build relationships with donors interested in helping the patients who need us.”

Bente is a dedicated civic volunteer, serving as a board member for Ball State University’s Cardinal Fund and the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation. She is also a volunteer for Alpha Chi Omega Foundation and the Lafayette Urban Ministry. She is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Indiana Chapter.

Welcome, Bente!

A message from Bryan Mills, Community Health Network President and CEO

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of one of the best friends Community Health Network has ever had—John W. “Jack” Heiney, who passed away over the weekend. And it is with tremendous gratitude that I honor his four decades of service to our organization and our community.

He was invited to take a volunteer position on the Community Hospital board in 1970, while he was president and CEO of Indiana Gas Company. He has been a part of the Community family ever since. At age 70, he retired from the hospital board to become chairman of the Community Health Network Foundation, and he also was an original board member for VEI. He continued to serve on the foundation and VEI boards until his death. Without his tireless service and incredible vision, Community would be a far different place today.

Jack Heiney was the most remarkable storyteller I’ve ever met. He could go back and, in exquisite detail, tell you stories that happened when he was a kid, when he was in the war, when he was in business. He shared the story from his childhood of being in the Yankees’ locker room and meeting Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He also could vividly recall the three times during World War II that he had personal encounters with George Patton.

I asked him where he learned management, and he told me that during the war he was given the responsibility of building and managing a POW camp—it initially had 5,000 POWs and it grew from there. He was given almost nothing to work with but got the job done—he said that’s where he learned to manage. Another important piece of that story: He found out that of those POWs, many of the women were pregnant and would deliver at his camp. He was concerned that at such an intimate time and special moment, they would not have privacy. So, he walled off an area to create a birthing room, because he thought everybody deserved privacy at that special, special time of life. That gives you a feel for his heart. It was so representative of Jack.

Next to my father, Jack was probably the biggest influence on my life, because he took me under his wing. He taught me to listen, he taught me to care, but most important, he taught me to be decisive and to take risks. He said, “Bryan, there will always be consequences—some of them will be good and some will be bad, but none of those risks is greater than indecisiveness.”

The mark that he left on Community Health Network has been profound. Consider, for example, his belief that the northeast side of the Indianapolis metropolitan area would be an area of significant growth. He was a champion of an idea that some thought was risky—the purchase of 100 acres of land in Castleton. Today, that site is home to Community Hospital North, The Indiana Heart Hospital and many other Community services, providing outstanding access to health care in an area that has been among the nation’s fastest-growing.

Consider, as well, the tremendous support the network and our employees have received in the quarter century he served on the Community Health Network Foundation board. And think about the growth Community has enjoyed—and the hundreds of thousands of lives we’ve touched—through the pioneering work of VEI… work that Jack Heiney’s vision and wisdom helped to shape. His four decades of service have been so important and influential that he was honored earlier this year by the Indianapolis Business Journal as the 2011 “Health Care Hero” in the volunteer category.

Jack Heiney would have been 98 today (November 9, 2011), and yet he still attended just about every foundation and VEI board meeting. Beyond the wealth of time and talent that he shared, he and his wife, Betty, also were incredibly generous in their financial support of Community. A 2009 donation of $1 million is the largest gift in our organization’s history, and the foundation’s planned giving society is named after Jack and Betty Heiney, as is the recently expanded patient tower at Community North.

Perhaps the greatest gift we’ve received from Jack has been his example—a life of service truly embodying our mission of commitment to the health and well-being of the communities we serve. As he put it, “I thought I could make a contribution to my fellow man,” and he set out to do just that, using his own unique talents to make an amazing difference.

With that in mind, I believe the most fitting tribute we can pay to this incredible friend of Community is to view his remarkable life as an inspiration… to realize that our own gifts and talents—whatever they may be—can make a world of difference… and then to commit ourselves to serving others in the spirit that Jack Heiney lived.

You may be interested in attending memorial services for Jack. The services will be held on Monday, November 14. Calling/visitation will be at 10 a.m., with the funeral at 11 a.m. at Flanner and Buchanan, 1305 Broad Ripple Ave. Gifts made to honor Jack can be made through Community Health Network Foundation by clicking here.

To read the Indianapolis Business Journal’s coverage of Jack Heiney, 2011 “Health Care Hero,” please click here. To view a video of Mr. Heiney’s remarks at the “Health Care Heroes” award ceremony, please click here.

Lids Locker Room at Castleton Square Mall will host a Ladies Day event Oct. 30, and 10% of every purchase will benefit our Breast Health Fund! Shop, and know that you are making a difference in our fight to save lives!

The answer is a recent whirlwind trip to California for Joan Reed, operations director of the school-based program in behavioral care services at Community Health Network. Reed was a guest of Metta World Peace, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star formerly known as Ron Artest, at a press conference announcing a series of donations made on his behalf in support of mental health programs across the country. Community Health Network Foundation was one of eight behavioral health charity recipients of the $299,000 proceeds raised after World Peace raffled off his NBA 2010 championship ring last year. World Peace credits his fans, saying it was them who made this possible.

Each of the recipient organizations had personal meaning to the former Pacer star. Notably, one location was in his hometown of Queens, New York, where he first received mental health services as a child for anger issues. At the start of the conference, World Peace briefly discussed his own struggles with mental health.

Reed recounts, “The most important thing for me was to hear his story. We spent two hours with him at breakfast, where he told us how mental health has played an important role for him throughout his life.”

As reported by Los Angeles Times following the press conference, Metta World Peace said, “When I was 13, our house burned down and my mom and dad separated, and from then on I was really agitated and started getting in a lot of trouble. My mom helped me out. She had me see a counselor because she realized I was having problems and I was going through a lot. He helped me a lot. Without him, I don’t know where I’d be.”

He went on to say, “We have a big problem right here in America with mental health, from little boys not understanding what it takes to be a good dad or be a good older brother or a role model — to violence.”

Impressed by his focus and genuine interest in the various organizations he benefited, Reed characterized the superstar as “someone who really had some rough spots in life and got some help and wanted to give back.” As for his less than savory reputation from the past, Reed says she saw none of that public persona. “He was very focused. He asked questions about our agencies and was interested to learn what our plans were.”

The night before the press conference, Reed received VIP access as a guest at a live taping of “Dancing with the Stars” to root for World Peace, a competitor in the dance competition. With seats on the main floor about four rows back from the stage, Reed thoroughly enjoyed her behind-the-scenes experience.

Regarding the check she received on behalf of Community Health Network Foundation and the school-based program in behavioral care services, Reed says, “Funds like these allow us to treat students in my world who may not have another payor. Or, it could be that we might be able to offer services that wouldn’t normally be covered.”

“One of the important things was not only what the money would do for students, but that the money came from a celebrity…and not just any celebrity, but one who is willing to speak on the topic based on personal experience and help raise awareness.” She goes on to say that this extended “gift” of awareness will help alleviate the stigma that is often associated with getting treatment for behavioral health.

Denny Sponsel, President, RJE Business Interiors

Growing up on the eastside of Indianapolis, Denny Sponsel really got to know the inside of Community Hospital East—getting stitches and having broken bones patched up. As an adult, he became acquainted with the hospital’s maternity unit, where his kids were born.

Most important, he grew up as part of a tight-knit eastside community, a community that in the 1950s went door-to-door raising money to build a hospital closer to home. In this part of town, Sponsel says, “people are very passionate about their community, what the community means to them and their upbringing.” The hospital is part of that community, and is, as he notes, quite literally the eastside’s community hospital. “I could go on and on about Community East.”

Sponsel has since moved to the southside but says he still holds onto his eastside roots. That’s why he and his company, RJE Business Interiors, chose Community East as recipient of a $10,000 gift that will sponsor the hospital’s patient navigator program.

The navigator program is, in a way, symbolic of the close relationship between Community East and its neighbors. It’s about making more personal connections with those who seek care at the hospital. “The program helps people navigate some of the challenges of health care and the complexities and difficulties of illnesses,” Sponsel says. “It shows them how to find the best care, and understand and work through things that are difficult at a time when a person is ill.”

It’s a mission that really speaks to Sponsel. While he fully recognizes the importance of technology and well-equipped medical facilities, he feels especially pleased that his donation is funding the personal touch of the navigator program. “When you have a very ill sibling or child or parent, your head is in a different place. This is to help people in those situations and help them work through that time.”

Sponsel’s donation is a gift of gratitude to the community that offered him opportunity. He has owned and been president of RJE Business Interiors since 2000. The area’s second-largest dealer of office furniture, RJE has grown from an $8 million or $9 million business when Sponsel acquired it to a $30 million business now, with 55 employees.

“I have had success in my life, and this is about giving back, contributing and helping the community be stronger,” he says. That’s why he is so drawn to the mission of Community East and its solid connection to the neighborhoods surrounding it. “If I felt that Community East was just another hospital that did not care about its communities and their people’s needs and the health of the area, I would not feel as strongly. I was looking for something that would bring value to the hospital and benefit the eastside.”