Northwestern Medicine honors Carol Stream doctor with Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award
Northwestern Medicine celebrated the life of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his ongoing legacy of service during the 39th annual Humanitarian Awards Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Beth Froese, MD, a physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine specialist at Central DuPage and Delnor hospitals, was recognized for her medical mission work, which has included trips around the globe to locations including Nepal and El Salvador.
Dr. Froese, a resident of Carol Stream, Ill., has also traveled to a remote village in Kenya to provide volunteer medical care and train local residents as community health officers empowering them to better the health of their family, friends and neighbors. Her work is through World Relief, an organization that partners with local churches in the U.S. and abroad to transform communities economically, socially and spiritually, so that the lives of the vulnerable can thrive and grow.
The Humanitarian Awards Program launched in 1979 to commemorate the life and legacy of the late Dr. King and to celebrate his virtues and ideals of community giving, equality, unity and excellence.
The award honors individuals, both employees and physicians from across the Northwestern Medicine health system, who best exemplify the ideals of Dr. King, as demonstrated by a positive impact in the community. Since its creation, the Humanitarian Award has been awarded to 74 employees and 27 physicians.
Dr. Froese is one of four members of the Northwestern Medicine family who were presented with awards Jan. 11 for their extraordinary contributions to the community and for embodying Dr. King's legacy of humanitarianism.
The other recipients are Kristina Ongkiko, RN, clinical documentation programs at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. Mamta Swaroop, MD, trauma and critical care surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital; and Abby Toms, LCSW, social work at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The keynote speaker was Jonathan Holloway, Ph.D., provost of Northwestern University.
A historian of African American history, Holloway specializes in post-emancipation United States history with a focus on social and intellectual history. He previously served as dean of Yale College and is the author of two books: "Confronting the Veil: Abram Harris Jr., E. Franklin Frazier, and Ralph Bunche, 1919-1941" and "Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940."