CSM Foundation Moments
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Community Impact - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic
Ludella Robinson (pictured, left) had avoided dental care for more years than she could remember, not out of fear like some people, but because without a job she simply did not have the resources to get care.
This is a common problem for many people in the city of Milwaukee, For nearly ten years, Columbia St. Mary's (CSM) has provided an answer to this need through our award-winning St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic, formerly the Madre Angela Dental Clinic, Milwaukee's "Dental Emergency Room for the Poor."
Poor oral health is the root of a host of life-threatening and expensive medical problems that contribute to an overloaded healthcare system. Many uninsured, impoverished people wait until their need for pain relief is critical. They then resort to seeking care at hospital emergency departments that are not equipped to provide dental services.
Supported by CSM Foundation, Seton Dental Clinic's goal is to ensure access to its broad range of oral health care - including urgent care, restorative care, dental appliances, hygiene services and a school-based oral health program - building its practice to more than 11,000 patient encounters each year.
Ludella first learned about the dental clinic from CSM employees, where she is being treated for breast cancer. "I knew I had a lump in my breast, but I didn't have it examined until I got a free voucher for a mammogram at CSM from an outreach nurse," she explains. Improving Ludella's oral health was extremely important because any source of infection can be a complication if cancer treatment causes the immune system to be temporarily compromised.
This referral within our Community Benefits programming is a true example of the care coordination that CSM strives to provide all people, regardless of their ability to pay.
By the time of her initial visit to MADC, Ludella was in pain and needed significant work, including several fillings and the extraction of six teeth.
She jokes, "I got worried that I'd be without my hair, because of the chemo, and without teeth. How would that look? But they have taken molds for replacement teeth, thank goodness, and I get to have a whole new mouth!"
Meeting this growing community need is possible only through the philanthropic support of those who share CSM's concern for people who lack access to the basic dental care most of us take for granted.
In the coming year, with grants from the Daughters of Charity and the State of Wisconsin, CSM and the Foundation will take on a move and expansion of the dental clinic that will double the number of patients it can serve.
To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.
Advanced Treatments and Technologies - Regional Burn Center
“May 28, 1994. 8,500 gallons of gasoline. A split second when something goes wrong. A tanker rolls over and bursts into flames on a slow turn on Milwaukee's Highway 45.
Forty-two-year-old driver Bill Ester (pictured, second from left with Wisconsin Alliance for Fire Safety Board members) can recall the accident in amazing detail. "My initial thought was 'This is how it ends.' But survival is a very strong instinct. I jumped out a window and, thank goodness, 'stop, drop and roll' had been beat into me as a kid."
Paramedics transported Bill to Columbia St. Mary's (CSM) Regional Burn Center where he began the long process of recovering from traumatic third-degree burns that covered more than 60 percent of his body.
CSM's Regional Burn Center will recognize its 50th anniversary in October 2009. This year also marks the 21st anniversary of the Burn Center Golf Invitational (BCGI) - an event hosted by the Wisconsin Alliance for Fire Safety (WAFS) - which has raised more than $1.6 million for the center.
WAFS' commitment supports care for 200-250 burn patients annually who need care for the treatment of injuies caused by fires, chemical burns, electrical burns, severe sunburn and frostbite, as well as skin disorders that cause severeskin damage or loss.
At the CSM Regional Burn Center, a specially trained team of physicians, nurses, therapists and other caregivers assures the highest quality care and best outcomes. They're fully committed to treating not only the physical injuries, but also the psychological wounds that often accompany them.
After Bill's first six months of outpatient therapy, the stress, pain and depression had taken a toll. "Just at that moment, the staff called and asked if I would participate in a new burn survivor support group. After just one meeting, I found the strength to keep fighting. I'm proud to be a source of support to the new victims. They look at me, and they see that they, too, can again have quality of life."
According to Thomas Schneider, MD, the Medical Director of the Regional Burn Center, "We are extremely fortunate to have this level of care - this completeness of care - right here in Milwaukee. The CSM Regional Burn Center serves as a model, regionally and nationally."
Today, the "completeness of care" that Dr. Schneider referenced has helped Bill fulfill his goals of again enjoying two passions: mountain climbing and playing the piano. "The relationships I've developed at the Burn Center are life-long. Those people are my saviors. My angels."
In recent years, the BCGI has funded Cardiac Telemetry Packs, Radiant Heat Panels and educational burn safety outreach programs. Funds have also been dedicated to building and upgrading the Regional Burn Center in the new CSM Hospital Milwaukee.
To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.
Exceptional Patient Experience - Ozaukee Cancer Center 
Breast Cancer.
It's a stunning diagnosis no matter who you are or where your life has taken you.
For Cedarburg's Linda Short (pictured, middle, with oncology caregivers), a retired Milwaukee Public Schools teacher, it was especially surprising. "I thought I was doing everything right," she said. "I teach water aerobics, eat right and have never smoked a cigarette in my life. It was a real eye-opener. The genetic component is strong."
Following a lumpectomy and 35 days of radiation treatments at the Columbia St. Mary's (CSM) Ozaukee Radiation Oncology Center, Linda says she's grateful for the care she received. "It is a relaxed, home-like atmosphere. If patients have anxiety upon entering the center, they are immediately put at east by the professionalism and demeanor of the staff. They are extremely compassionate and made all the difference in the world during my treatment."
Columbia St. Mary's Foundation - with special help from two groups of donors - has funded significant improvements to the medical oncology and radiation oncology areas at the Ozaukee campus. With improving the patient experience in mind, friends and family of Richard "Dick" Gebhardt designated memorial gifts towards the renovation of both areas, and with the leadership of co-chairs Carl Olson, MD, and Elizabeth and Tom Long, the 2008 CSM Foundation Galaraised more than $300,000 for cancer services.
A reception area upgrade, provate waiting area for gowned patients, heated treatment chairs, educational resources, calming artwork and plant life all ease the stress of cancer treatments for patients and their loved ones.
Virtual skylights, called SkyCeilingsTM, bring the relaxing qualities of the sky to the enclosed interior, and SkyWindowsTM create peaceful portals to scenes of virtual wilderness.
Foundation funding also supports integrative therapies, such as art and music thereapy, and visits from our wonderful therapy dogs - further confirming our commitment to healing the body, mind and spirit.
"I've seen first-hand the impact that these improvements to the treatment areas have had on the patient experience," explains John Burfeind, MD, Medical Director fo the Ozaukee Cancer Centers. "The careful creation of such a healing environment demonstrates Columbia St. Mary's commitment to all-encompassing health care."
Linda credits her positive attitude for contributing to her successful outcomes. "I could have sat there and said, 'Why me?.' but I'm not one for doom and gloom."
One year later, two follow-up mammograms have found no sign of cancer for Linda.
To give online to any of the CSM Programs mentioned on this page, click here.