St. John Hospital & Medical Center: Detroit
Thursday, March 13, 2008

Media Contact: Brian Taylor, 248-849-2236/586-753-0726

 
Top: David Stephens, President and CEO, thanks Gretchen Valade for her generosity to St. John Hospital and  Medical Center.
Bottom: From left: Gretchen Valade, Sharon Burke, and Mickey Burke.

Donors and friends of St. John Hospital and Medical Center (SJH&MC) gathered on March 3 to celebrate the dedication of the Van Elslander Pavilion's second private floor, 5 North, which will care for cardiac patients. The floor was made possible through the generosity of Gretchen Valade, of Grosse Pointe Farms, who made her gift in honor of Mickey and Sharon Burke of Grosse Pointe Farms. 

Sharon and Mickey Burke have supported SJH&MC since the 1960s with financial gifts, time, and leadership. They founded the Cornerstone Society, the first coordinated initiative to attract major gifts to SJH&MC, and have loyally supported the Fontbonne Auxiliary and Guild.

Gretchen Valade has been friends with Sharon and Mickey for more than 30 years, and has celebrated that relationship and recognized her friends' support of SJH&MC by making the naming gift in their honor.
 
Gretchen is the CEO of Mack Avenue Records, a world-renowned jazz recording label and Chairman of the Board of Carharrt Inc. Her lifelong love of jazz propelled her to establish an endowment supporting the Detroit Jazz Fest - ensuring its financial viability and saving this world-class event for Detroit. Last year, the Association of Fundraising Professionals honored her with the Max M. Fisher Award for Outstanding Philanthropist. Most recently, Gretchen opened the Dirty Dog Jazz Café on the Hill in Grosse Pointe Farms.
 
Over the last 14 years, Gretchen has supported Hospice, our Emergency Center, the White Christmas Ball and OcktoberFest and was one of the leadership donors to the Van Elslander Cancer Center where her gift is recognized as the Valade Healing Arts Center.
 
"Gretchen's most recent donation for this patient floor is a testament to her continuing generous spirit, for which we are deeply grateful," said David Stephens, President and CEO.

The Valade floor, also known as 5 North, has 36 private rooms (including four bariatric rooms). Every aspect of the new, large patient rooms has been designed to enhance the healing environment and maximize comfort for patients and their families.

Rooms have been designed with family in mind, and include beautiful furniture and fixtures, private bathrooms and sofas to allow overnight stays by family. The privacy of the room, in addition to sound absorbing materials on the floors and ceilings, help to maintain a quieter and more peaceful hospital environment. Each room has a flat-screen television and state-of-the-art cardiac monitoring.

Additionally the floor has a beautiful waiting room, family conference room, physicians team conference room, architecture to support SJH&MC's migration to computerized charting, and custom nurse work space that keeps the nurses close to the patients.

Additional donors who supported the Valade Floor include:

• LoVasco Family (family waiting area)
• Eastlake Cardiovascular Associates (nursing station)
• G.I. Medicine Associates (nursing station)
• Dr. and Mrs. Paul Cullis (patient suite)
• Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell Dombrowski (patient suite)
• Joan and William Gehrke (patient suite)
• Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Grady (patient suite)
• The physicians of Great Lakes Medicine (patient suite)
• Janet and Hugh Harness (patient suite)
• Dr. and Mrs. Thomas LaLonde - memory of Mr. & Mrs. Nelson Wilson (patient suite)
• Janet and William Ventimiglia (patient suite)
• Dr. Abdelkader and Mrs. Huda Hawasli (patient suite)
• Yvette and Dr. Louis Saravolatz (patient suite)
• Ghada and Dr. Riad Khatib (patient suite)

The McQuade floor opened on Jan. 15. The next unit is scheduled to open on April 16.

St. John Hospital & Medical Center is a member of St. John Health, the largest provider of inpatient care in Southeast Michigan and one of the largest employers in metro Detroit. St. John Health provides comprehensive prevention, primary care and advanced treatment programs with more than 125 medical centers, and seven hospitals spanning five counties. 

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