In 1875, HUP’s Board of Women Visitors (BWV) was created “to aid the Managers in the discharge of household duties and to administer such comfort to the patients as their thoughtful care may suggest.” But the women’s focus quickly evolved into patient advocacy. Wanting to ensure better care for patients, they continuously petitioned the hospital’s Board of Managers to create a training school for nurses. In 1885, the HUP School of Nursing became a reality. In the ensuing years, they were the driving force behind establishing Social Services at HUP and its volunteer department, which later became Guest Services.
Over the years, thanks to multiple fundraising efforts, the BWV has contributed nearly $40 million to literally hundreds of projects, all with an eye to advance patient care and improve the patient- and family-centered experience. For example, proceeds from the Philadelphia Antiques Show, which the Board founded in 1962 and oversaw for nearly 50 years, led to the creation of the Penn Lung Transplant Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion Center, which reconditions damaged donated lungs for successful transplantation, and to the Penn Center for Ocular Imaging, to ensure more accurate diagnoses and improved treatment. Their generosity also helped fund — and continually sustains — the Clyde Barker Transplant House.
For the past several years, annual grants from the BWV have funded a wide variety of projects throughout HUP. For example, these funds have refurbished multiple family waiting areas and incorporated art work into patient care areas to create a more tranquil environment. They have also provided walkers for patients who require assistance in the hospital and special cameras to monitor eye diseases in the community, especially glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. In the past five years alone, these grants have totaled more than $2 million.
One of the board’s recent grants will help fund the creation of an Age Span Program for Women, helping those living with multiple sclerosis. According to Dina Jacobs, MD, who will oversee the clinical program along with Sona Narula, MD, it will not only help coordinate the transition of care for young women with MS from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to HUP but also follow them through life’s many milestones which can have a significant impact on MS, including birth control, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause. “We’re incredibly grateful for the funding,” Jacobs said.
The Board also participates in HUP’s Environment of Care (EOC) rounds, which are done by representatives of hospital departments to ensure a clean and safe environment for patients and families. As part of the process, BWV members speak with patients to learn how they view the hospital.
“It’s a real conversation about what’s important to the patient,” said BWV board member Gale Gillespie. “I get so much positive feedback — patients love the hospital, love the nurses, think the doctors are great. It gets the Board back to the patient where we first started.”
Most recently, members of BWV toured the Pavilion and decided they wanted to do something special for the new facility. After studying different areas and departments, they chose the ED to receive a $1 million donation. “We decided the emergency room was most important to us and to the hospital,” said Judith Newman.
“The Board of Women Visitors value their responsibility as stewards of patient care,” said Ann Conlin, BWV board member, “and provide thoughtful, warm devotion as they would for their own family.”