CLEVELAND – The Neurological Institute at University Hospitals will create a new endowed chair in neurological outcomes research with major gifts from the Brown Family of Cleveland, the Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation in Shaker Hts., Ohio, and from Leigh H. Perkins of Vermont. The new chair will be instrumental in developing one of the first neurological outcomes centers in the United States to measure the effectiveness of treatments for patients with neurological conditions.
The Brown Family and the Ingalls Foundation are contributing $750,000, while Mr. Perkins, CEO of Orvis Company, is giving $250,000. These gifts will be matched with a $500,000 grant from the George M. Humphrey II Challenge to establish the endowed chair to be named in honor of the late Willard W. Brown, a Cleveland businessman, former UH board member, and friend of both Mr. Humphrey and Mr. Perkins.
The parties involved with these gifts are from families that have played important roles in Cleveland’s history.
“The Brown, Ingalls, Perkins and Humphrey families were close to each other,” said Barbara Brown, Ph.D., president of The Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation. “And their descendants have remained close.”
“We all grew up together,” said Dr. Brown whose grandmother, Louise Harkness Ingalls, was one of the original trustees of UH. “This gift is a continuation of the spirit of philanthropy characterized by those early Cleveland families and a perfect confluence of the four families.”
“We chose to fund this chair in the name of my father, Willard Walker Brown, because he was a visionary. He would have supported this unique chair which we believe will become a model for hospitals around the country. It will help establish a neurological outcomes center where the impact of treatments and other healthcare interventions on patient outcomes will be measured and assessed,” Dr. Brown said.
The endowed chair in neurological outcomes research will allow the UH Neurological Institute to recruit a clinician scientist with expertise in outcomes research related to a variety of neurological conditions including strokes, brain tumors, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
“We are truly grateful to the Brown Family, Ingalls Foundation, and Mr. Perkins for their support of our efforts in the Neurological Institute to recruit a researcher who will lead a groundbreaking effort to place us at the forefront of outcomes research, thereby benefiting our patients with a variety of neurological conditions,” said Warren Selman, M.D., director of the Neurological Institute and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “We must answer the question: ‘What medical interventions best improve outcomes in our patients?’”
Dr. Anthony Furlan, chairman of the UH Department of Neurology and co-director of the NI, said, “Although many healthcare organizations profess a belief in outcomes assessment, few have committed the necessary resources to actually do it. NIH already cites Cleveland as an example of successful systems approaches to improving stroke outcomes and the Neurological Outcomes Center will build on this foundation. At UH, we have developed a neurological ‘institute’ model in which traditional departments are replaced by patient- and disease-centric interdisciplinary centers. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant from NIH gave us the jump-start to evaluate patient outcomes in patients with neurological conditions. The next essential piece to making the Neurological Outcomes Center a reality is receiving this chair from the generosity of the three families. This gift is pivotal in allowing us to create one of the first neurological outcomes centers in the United States.”
The Humphrey Challenge, announced in 2006, provides $500,000 for every $1million donated with a view to inspiring eight new chairs in the Neurological Institute. The new Willard Brown Chair represents the third chair resulting from that challenge.