Couple donates $1 million to Northwest Community Hospital
The old adage, "If you build it, they will come," seems increasingly true for Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.
Late last month, hospital officials announced its second major contribution in the last three months. This time, John and Rita Canning of Inverness donated $1 million, in support of the expansion of the emergency room, scheduled for completion in 2011.
"We're happy to do it," Rita Canning says. "We both feel good about it."
Their contribution came on the heels of another major gift announced in late December by Vincent and Patricia Foglia of North Barrington, for the hospital's Patient Care Addition, currently under construction.
While hospital officials declined to give the amount of the gift, a waiting area in the new building will be named after the Foglias.
Their name already is synonymous with the Foglia YMCA in Lake Zurich, which serves residents in Lake Zurich, Hawthorn Woods, Deer Park, Palatine, Island Lake, Wauconda, Mundelein, Fox Lake and Vernon Hills.
Both gifts came during the hospital's construction of its new eight-story Patient Care addition, where the ER will occupy space on the first floor. According to hospital officials, it will feature eight triage spaces for faster care and 45 patient rooms.
Pediatric emergency services also will be expanded by as much as 19,000 square feet, they said.
Doubling the size of the ER drew the Cannings' attention, they said. They are well known philanthropists in the Chicago area.
John Canning is chairman and co-founder of the private equity firm, Madison Dearborn Partners, and he recently was named chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago.
News reports also put him at the helm of an investment group that insiders believe is the favorite to buy the Chicago Cubs.
Rita Canning, meantime, plays a visible role in the Northwest suburbs, in the area of women and children's services. Formerly she worked to open the Home of the Sparrow women's shelter in Palatine.
In recent years, she has stepped up to serve as board chairwoman for WINGS, or Women in Need Growing Stronger, which operates an emergency shelter in Rolling Meadows and scattered transitional apartments.
"I really feel strongly that charity begins at home," Rita Canning says. "There are so many worthy causes and excellent services right here in our own back yard."
A portion of their contribution will tie in with Canning's role with WINGS. Their gift will help fund a new partnership between WINGS and the hospital, calling for increased training of hospital staff members to better recognize the signs of domestic abuse in the emergency room.
A WINGS staff member now will have an office at the hospital, to counsel victims on site.
"It's very exciting," Canning says. "We're using Northwest Community as a pilot program. If it succeeds, we'll start it at all of our area hospitals."