Final Weeks

The past few weeks have been busy in my internship as well as in other classes, which is why I have been delayed in updating this blog.  Much of the last few weeks have involved more interviews, and tracking down contact information for individuals whom I would like to interview.  I had the opportunity to interview the remaining board members, including the president of the foundation a couple weeks ago, which provided me with some good quotes for the history paper I've been working on.

One of the most interesting interviews from the past few weeks was with one of the foundation consultants, who has worked with the foundation since the early 1990s.  As a nurse practitioner, she worked at a veterans hospital during this time as well as with AIDS patients.  While this doesn't sound unusual for a nurse now, it was rare for nurses to willingly work with AIDS patients in the early '90s, due to the limited knowledge available at the time about AIDS, and the social stigma against infected individuals.  Due to her experience with AIDS patients, she worked with the foundation to develop grants to fund a counseling center, housing for AIDS patients, and a hospice program, many of which were the first programs specifically for AIDS patients in the city.  Many of these projects were put into effect by working with Howard Brown, another foundation in Chicago.  Hearing about the other foundations that Washington Square has worked with in the community has broadened my understanding of the health care environment in Chicago.

Another aspect of the foundation's history that I learned about from several of the individuals that I interviewed was the foundation's largest grant, which funded the building of a P3 containment lab.  This is an extremely advanced, rare, and expensive type of laboratory that is used to study dangerous diseases.  For anyone who has seen the movie "Contagion", a P3 containment lab is similar to the lab seen in that movie to study viruses, where scientists must wear large, airtight suits to protect themselves from the virus that they are studying:

I was also able to do a little more archival work last week.  My boss found a folder in the office full of archives from Henrotin Hospital.  This was exciting because I had had trouble finding original documents from Henrotin earlier in the semester, because most of the hospital archives are currently stored at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.  The folder included pictures from when Henrotin Hospital was being demolished, and annual reports from the early 1980s.  The annual reports were interesting because they provided me with information about the people who actually worked at Henrotin hospital, and the patient population that was served.  From these reports, I was also able to see how the relationship with Northwestern Memorial Hospital started.  In the 1983 report, it was indicated that a relationships with Northwestern would soon commence, but it was made clear that the board had no intention of selling the hospital to Northwestern.  It was interesting to see this because the hospital ended up being sold two years later.

I plan on continuing my history internship with Washington Square throughout the summer, as I continue to engage in research and work on writing about the foundation's history.  Having finished interviewing the board members, my focus will now turn to interviewing individuals from other organizations who have received grants from Washington Square in the past.  I have an interview scheduled with one grantee this week, and with the CEO of another organization next week.  I have learned a lot from this experience, and acquired many new skills that will definitely be useful in the future.  I'm excited to continue working on the project this summer!

Week 10

This week, I was able to interview three more people for the history project.  Tuesday morning, I met with someone who was one of the key players in the sale of Henrotin Hospital in the '80s.  I met him at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he has been employed since before the sale.  This interview was interesting because he gave his recollection of the purchase of the hospital from Northwestern's point of view.

At the time of the sale, Northwestern and Henrotin Hospitals, which were only a few blocks away from each other, competed for patients.  Henrotin also had an excellent sports medicine program, among other programs, which Northwestern was hoping could be incorporated into the Northwestern Memorial Hospital system.  Northwestern was also competing with nearby Rush Presbyterian hospital, so it was in the Northwestern's best interest to purchase Henrotin.  While some of the individuals I have spoken to who were involved with Henrotin Hospital at the time of the sale have explained their feelings of shock and disappointment upon hearing of the closing of the hospital, the individual I interviewed from Northwestern gave a different opinion.  He explained that Northwestern had planned on keeping the hospital open much longer than they did, but ultimately made the decision to close after experiencing heavy financial losses for the last 12 months the hospital was open.  He explained that Northwestern did as much as they could to incorporate the Henrotin Hospital employees into Northwestern's system, but received criticism from the Henrotin Hospital medical staff.

The second person I interviewed this week was a lawyer hired by Washington Square to deal with the legal details of converting the foundation from a public to a private charity after the closure of the hospital.  Due to his legal involvement in the foundation, Washington Square became one of the first health care conversion foundations in the country.

The last person I interviewed this week started the Washington Square scholarship program in the late '80s.  As a new foundation at this time, the foundation needed a way to break into the grant-giving scene, and gain awareness for the foundation.  Giving scholarships to medical and nursing students provided a relatively easy way to do this.  There was also a shortage of nurses in the early '90s, so the scholarship program provided a way to directly respond to Chicago's health care needs.

The individuals I spoke to this week provided me with a lot of useful information to continue writing the history of the foundation, so I look forward to working more on the writing portion next week.

Week 9

This week was very productive in terms of setting up interviews.  I set up three interviews, and was able to acquire contact information for most of the remaining individuals I had originally planned on interviewing.  I also had an impromptu phone interview with one of the other board members on Friday.

The board member that I spoke with on Friday was not an original board member, but has been with the foundation for nearly 20 years, so had a good outlook on how the foundation has evolved.  He discussed several important projects that the foundation has funded that have been especially significant.  The project that was most interesting to me was an emergency room study that was conducted.  This study resulted in changes made in ER wait times and efficiency not only in Chicago, but throughout the country.  In addition, he discussed a recent food pantry initiative funded by Washington Square.  This project is significant because it is the first time the foundation has funded a food bank, indicating a broadening of funding areas in public health.

Below is an older photograph of some of the past and present members of the Board of Directors of Washington Square:

I'm looking forward to the next few interviews, and hoping that they will help me develop a more complete understanding of certain aspects of the foundation's history.

Week 8

This past week, I continued to work on the interviewing part of the project.  However, I ran into some difficulties as far as contacting certain individuals.  The next person I had planned on interviewing was one of the original board members of the foundation, but resigned in the 1980s.  However, he played a crucial role in some of legal details and planning of the future of the foundation.

While the last person I interviewed is a current foundation board member, and therefore relatively easy to contact, the next person I am hoping to interview did not have current contact information in the office.  The last contact information we had for this individual was from when he was a board member, and also ran a retail consulting firm in Chicago.  I tried contacting this firm, but found that he was no longer employeed there.  After doing a google search, I was able to find an Evanstons address for someone of the same name.  While I had emailed the first person to set up an interview, it looks like I will have to rely on snail mail for this one, since I wasn't able to find a phone number, email, or any other information.

I'm hoping that I will be able to get in contact with this person, and I hope it will be easier to track down the rest of the individuals that I interview!

Week 7

After going home to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a few days for spring break, I came back to Chicago on Wednesday and spent some time working on the history project.  This week, I conducted my first interview with a board member of the foundation.  The board member that I interviewed was originally on the board of directors at Henrotin Hospital, and has been with the foundation the longest.

I started the interview with asking him about the sale and closure of the hospital, and his reaction to these events.  He emphasized his and the board's disappointment upon hearing about the plans to close the hospital.  At the time of the sale of the hospital, Northwestern Memorial Group had led the board of Henrotin to believe that they would keep the hospital open for much longer than they did, so their decision to close the hospital was shocking to the board members.  Their main concern was that the 400-600 hospital employees would lose their jobs, although some of these employees ended up being incorporated into Northwestern's Hospital system.

He also discussed some of the foundation's initial planning, and the thought process that went into developing the foundation's mission statement.  He said that although the board members of the foundation largely agreed that the acquired funds should be used to promote access to healthcare, there was a level of uncertainty on how to implement these funds.

Interviewing a board member was interesting because I was able to hear how the events early in the foundation's history unfolded from another perspective.  It also gave me better ideas about what to ask the next individuals that I'll be interviewing, and helped me to add more specific information to the written part of the project.

Week 6

This week's focus was beginning to coordinate the interview portion of the project.  Several weeks ago, I made a list of individuals that my boss suggested would be good people to interview to learn more about the foundation's history.  This week, we decided on the first group of people to be contacted to set up an interview.  All four of the first group to be selected are individuals who played an important role in the beginning of the foundation-- the selling of Henrotin Hospital to Northwestern Memorial Group, the closing of the hospital, the conversion of the foundation from public to private, etc.

The first person I contacted this week was on the board of Henrotin Hospital before it was sold, and is currently the foundation's longest-standing board member.  We have a phone interview set up for next week, so I have been thinking of questions to ask him.  Having never interviewed anyone before, and never met one of the foundation's board members before, I'm a little nervous.  Most of my questions are focused on the first few years of the foundation, because he is the only board member who witnessed the creation of the foundation first-hand.  While I have read some of the minutes for the earliest foundation board meetings, I am hoping he can help clarify and give his own view of the process of decision making that went into starting the foundation.

The other individuals that I plan on contacting soon for an interview include two people who worked for Northwestern Memorial Group and were involved in the purchase of the hospital, and one of the original board members of the foundation who was involved in some of the legal details of the creation of the foundation, but has since resigned. 

I'm looking forward to finally starting the interview process, and hoping it goes well!

Week 5

Oh, technology.  In a time when smart phones and iPads are seemingly everywhere, it is easy to forget about some of the bigger, bulkier devices that existed not too long ago.  This week, I found a collection of microfiches that had to be read using a microfilm reader.

This machine was considered high tech when it was first purchased by the foundation, probably about 20 years ago.  Having never read microfiches before, I had to learn how to use a different type of technology that I hadn't encountered before.  The microfilm reader turned out to be pretty easy to use, and the microfiches that I found in the office turned out to have a lot of valuable information.  So, old technology can still come in handy!

Some of the information i found in the several boxes of microfiches in the office included the earliest board meeting minutes and detailed information on the first grants to be given by the foundation.  The board minutes included personal opinions of the board members on the purpose of the foundation, and what types of projects should be funded.  This was especially interesting to me because, up until this point, a lot of the research I had done had been focused on the legal details of the sale of Henrotin Hospital.  Learning more about the feelings of the individuals directly involved in the activities of the foundation provided a new aspect to the foundation's history.

While some of the original board members wanted to wait a few years before giving grants out, in order to save money and learn more about the public health needs in Chicago, other board members had specific ideas in mind in terms of which types of projects to fund.  Several of the board members wanted to focus on giving grants for medical education.  Others wanted the grants to focus on capital equipment for Henrotin Hospital (which still existed at this point).

I still have a lot more of the microfiches to get through, but I'm excited to see what other information I can find from them!

Week 4

Most of this week was spent working on the write-up of the foundation's history.  I also spent some time verifying the accuracy of some of the information I found last week, especially information about Henrotin Hospital.  I was able to find an old picture of Henrotin Hospital, most likely from around the time it opened:

The hospital was located in Washington Square Park (hence, the name of the current foundation) pictured below, with Newberry Library in the background.

To continue with the foundation's history-- after the hospital closed, there was debate as to what to do with the new foundation that had been formed.  After making the decision to convert from a public to a private foundation, the members of the foundation's board decided to continue the hospital's mission by giving grants to other hospitals and foundations in Chicago.  The first chairman of the board, James Lutz, had many ideas that provided the basis for the foundation today.

Lutz was born in Germany, and immigrated to the U.S. as a young man with $11 in his pocket.  He acquired a low-paying job working in a Sears warehouse, and eventually worked his way up in the company.  At one point, he began working for Montgomery Ward in Chicago.  His connection with Henrotin Hospital began when Montgomery Ward was looking for a hospital for employees to use.  He maintained his connection with the hospital for many years, and was appointed chairman of the foundation upon its formation.  The position of chairman has since been eliminated, but there have been several foundation presidents in the past 25 years that will be discussed in future posts.

The foundation today is still considered to be an extension of Henrotin Hospital, but is now located in an office a few blocks away.  Below is a picture of the foundation's board room in the John Hancock building.

That's all for now, looking forward to seeing what next week will bring!

Week 3

This week, I put together some of my initial research findings and began writing about the beginning of the Foundation.  I also made a list of some people to interview at some point this semester about their experiences with Washington Square.  Some of these people were involved in the creation of the foundation, some work for organizations that have received grants from WSHF in the past, and some of the individuals continue to have a working relationship with the foundation.  A few of the people on the list I have heard mentioned many times in the past couple years I have worked at WSHF, so I'm excited to finally get a chance to meet them!

Earlier this week, I was eager to begin writing about the foundation.  I encountered a few obstacles, however, that I had to work through, and probably will encounter again throughout the semester.  One of them was conflicting information from different sources.  I found a lot of information about Henrotin Hospital from various newspaper articles, and online books on the history of Chicago.  While most of the information I found matched up with the other sources, there were a few important facts that changed from source to source.  The year the hospital opened, whether it was named after Dr. Henrotin Junior or Senior, and the sale price of the hospital are a few of the facts that were not consistent.  I plan on checking these facts and sources with my boss, and trying to find more information using different written sources.  I also experienced a little writer's block initially, which I'm sure most other history majors have also had to deal with at one point or another.

While I've mostly been focused on learning about the sale of the hospital and start of the foundation for the first few weeks, I'm planning on researching more about the first projects that were funded by the foundation next week.

Week 2

This week, I focused on finding out more about how Washington Square Health Foundation began.  The foundation started in 1986, when Henrotin Hospital closed.  Henrotin Hospital was located at 111 Oak Street in the gold coast, and was known for their expertise in treating gun shot wounds, likely due in part to the hospital's proximity to Cabrini Green.

The hospital closed because of declining hospital bed occupancy rates and other financial problems.  The money from the sale of the hospital was used to start Washington Square, whose board of directors was initially composed of individuals on the board of Henrotin Hospital.  Washington Square was initially a public foundation, but later converted to a non-profit.

I looked further into Henrotin Hospital's past by researching Dr. Ferdinand Henrotin, who the hospital was named after when it opened.  The Henrotins were one of the first Belgian families in Chicago.  Dr. Henrotin served as Cook County Physician in the mid-1800s, and was one of the most famous surgeons in the midwest at the time. When Chicago's first policlinic hospital opened its doors in 1907, it was named after Dr. Henrotin.  Henrotin Hospital was very successful for several decades, and was the first hospital in Chicago that was not religiously affiliated.

I spent this week looking up old Tribune and Sun-Times articles to find information about the old Henrotin Hospital, and spent more time speaking with the staff of Washington Square to learn about some of the founding board members of the foundation.

Week 1

This week, I started my history internship at Washington Square Health Foundation.  Having worked there for nearly two years as a public health intern, I was excited to get the opportunity to finally learn more about the Foundation's history!

Washington Square Health Foundation is located in the John Hancock building in downtown Chicago.  The foundation grants funds to local hospitals, schools, and other institutions.  These funds cover direct healthcare services, medical equipment, medical education, and medical research.  Washington Square targets their funding towards areas of Chicago that are often lacking in access to adequate healthcare services.

Throughout the semester, I'll be doing a mixture of archival work, interviewing various individuals, and recording board member's accounts of the foundation's 25-year history.  I'll gradually be piecing together the information I gather chronologically, and working on a paper discussing the history of the foundation since it's beginnings in 1986.

This week, I spent some time talking to the Executive Director of the foundation, Howard Nochumson, about some of the people I might want to interview while working on the project.  He also suggested some places to start looking for historical information in the office-- board meeting minutes from the past 25 years, board member biographies, and information about the organizations that have received grants in the past.

I'm looking forward to finding out more about the beginning of the foundation next week!