2006 Annual Fund Campaign Leadership Team
Pictured left to right (Back) Gary DeSantis, Board Members’ Division; Barbara Wetzel, MMC Exempt Staff Division; Sharon Tolbert, Nurses’ Division; Barbara Mulligan, Community Health Services’ Division; Clark Hoffman, Business Division. (Front) Dick McDermot, Individuals’ Division; Ruth Ziemianski, MMC Staff Members’ Division; Stella Deater, General Chairperson; Cheryl Ciallella, MMC Managers’ & Administrators’ Division.
Missing from photograph: Steve Carman, Corporations’ Division; Liz Lang, Corporators’ Division; Dr. Frederic McDermott and Dr. Lawrence Newhook, Physicians’ Division; Mark Strausbaugh, Professionals’ Division; and Leslie Work, Nurses’ Division.

This year’s Annual Fund Project for Meadville Medical Center is the purchase of Digital Radiography X-Ray Equipment.  Community Health Services’ gift funds will purchase Finger Pulse Oximeters benefiting the Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice with a microscope for Family Planning.

The Digital Radiography X-Ray system will ensure patients the highest quality digital image in the least amount of time.  Gifts will primarily help Emergency Room patients who will use this current technology x-ray equipment nearly 25,000 times each year. The Emergency Department accounts for nearly 40% of all hospital admissions.

The system now in use, a Computed Radiography Cassette Reading Station (CRCRS), converts x-rays from analog to digital format using a cassette which is physically placed into the CRCRS to obtain a digital image.  The process takes critical minutes to produce a viewable image for physicians, radiologists and appropriate medical staff.  Digital radiography equipment allows an x-ray technologist to capture and process, without the use of a cassette, an x-ray image in only ten seconds.  The nearly instant result allows a substantially quicker ER and outpatient x-ray exam.  When treating a serious injury, seconds, instead of minutes, may make the difference between life and death!

For Community Health Services, staff members of the Visiting Nurse Association visit nearly 2,000 patients and perform 40,000 visits each year.  Many of these visits require the use of a pulse oximeter – a small, lightweight, portable device used to measure blood oxygen saturation in patients with Congestive Heart Failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and post-operative cardiac surgery.  The purchase of 20 pulse oximeters would be a great help to the staff members of the Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice. Family Planning is in need of a microscope to examine specimens for diagnostic purposes.  This microscope would enable staff members to identify infections and initiate earlier treatment for patients.


What are the responsibilities of a Volunteer for the MMC Foundation?
An MMC Foundation volunteer is asked to solicit five (5) peers in person for a gift to the Annual Fund Campaign.

For example, a business owner would ask five other business owners for a gift. An attorney would ask five other attorneys for a gift. But it doesn't necessarily have to be this way. We have some volunteers who feel more comfortable asking a business or individual outside their own industry group. That's O.K. We let our volunteers choose the five prospects whom they will solicit for a gift. Foundation staff develop lists of prospects for 12 divisions ranging from individuals, businesses to professionals, corporations and vendors. As a volunteer, you can choose the division you wish to work for and choose your prospects from within that division.

The Foundation provides all solicitation material including brochures and pledge cards. We even have sample instructions on ways to ask for a gift. We want our volunteers time to be spent efficiently and for the Foundation, that means making the ask for support to your peers. A volunteer is asked to attend one orientation/kick off meeting and then solicit their five prospects. We estimate that it will take between 4 and 6 hours of your time over a six week period. Our prime solicitation period is the months of April, May and June of each year.

The Annual Fund's victories are the result of the hard work and determination of our volunteer solicitors. We thank them for their previous efforts and look forward to our future successes. Please be a part of our winning team. Please contact the Meadville Medical Center Foundation at 814-333-5936 or 814-333-5935. Bob Muth and Cassandra Breeden, Foundation staff members, look forward to working with you on the Annual Fund Campaigns. If you prefer, you can contact us via e-mail bmuth@mmchs.org or fax 814-333-5703.

MMC volunteers are outstanding members of our community committed to our cause.