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doctor’s corner

STRAIGHT TALK

by Allen Weiss, MD, MBA, FACP, FACR RMV
President and CEO, NCH HealthcareSystem

hen success and selflessness just a teenager. Audrey found another path, a path that led to a
come together, communities destiny she never could have imagined. From the fledgling business
W and institutions benefit. founded at the kitchen table, to the boardroom of an international
NCH was conceived and supported for corporation, to the lives and communities she is transforming
over sixty-three years by altruistic folks through her visionary philanthropy, Audrey is driven by one
who wanted to help fellow citizens in guiding principle: Just go for it!”
their community benefit from local hospital care. Our mission
has evolved from being a traditional repair shop to an innovative As I read Mrs. Petersen’s biography, I was reminded of the
system focused on prevention, just as our facilities have grown and community’s strong historical interconnectivity related to
transformed from a frontier to rural to community hospital and healthcare. Like so many before her, she has built solid confidence
now a Mayo Clinic affiliated academic healthcare system. in NCH, both as a patient and a philanthropist.

We have thousands of philanthropic supporters—modest to As the book states, “Audrey recognizes that many successful
gigantic—who together help us achieve our CMS 5 star status people are so busy with their careers, it isn’t until later in life
and strong financial backbone. This tradition of community that they begin to think about how they can make an impact
support continues to grow with a very recent gift (NCH’s third through philanthropy. Her vision and generosity would not only
largest ever) from a couple who were unassuming grateful patients improve health care; it could also inspire others to transform their
wanting to help everyone have their same excellent experience. community.” And as the book quotes Audrey, “ Money has no
value in itself. You can let it sit in the bank and it does nothing.
Mrs. Audrey Petersen is another wonderful example of success and The value is in what you can do with your money.” These are
selflessness. Her visionary gift, providing Smart Room technology Audrey’s thoughts after she agreed to have the cardiology floor
for NCH, has transformed healthcare delivery here. Seamless, of the Baker Hospital Downtown and the sixth floor of North
integrated connectivity from the bedside to the medical record, Naples Hospital named in her honor. Learn more about the way
including monitoring equipment, IV pumps, and other digital philanthropic support is shaping your healthcare system at
inputs, now give patients and caregivers a safer experience. www.nchmd.org/philanthropy .

Mrs. Petersen’s true life story, similar to a Horatio Alger fictional NCH and all of Southwest Florida are beneficiaries of Mrs. Petersen
hero, has been beautifully shared in a recent biography entitled, and the countless other successful, selfless, and altruistic contributors
Hitch Your Wagon to a Star and Keep on Climbing. The back cover who help everyone live a longer, happier, and healthier life.
captures Mrs. Petersen’s character and explains her motivation to
give back:
P.S. DO YOU HAVE A COLLEAGUE OR FRIEND

WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED IN UPDATES ?

“Growing up during the hard-scrabble Depression years, Audrey
Snively Morean Petersen vowed that she would be somebody Please enter their email address at nchmd.org/straighttalk ,
and we will add them to our complimentary mailing list.
someday. But her life course was irrevocably altered when she was
46 Life in Naples | January 2019