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.