NCH Board Recognizes Dr. John McGillen for Volunteerism in Medical Community
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (April 3, 2014) - The Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) Board of Directors recently recognized Dr. John McGillen, former medical director at NCH, for his volunteer efforts in the medical community.
Dr. McGillen received an NCH Volunteer Recognition award from the NCH Board during the March meeting for volunteering his services in several areas. Dr. McGillen was recognized for the following efforts:
• Accepting countless "no-pay" patients at his private practice at the req uest of NCH
• Volunteering at the Neighborhood Health Resource Center, a volunteer physician clinic in Rolling Meadows for more than 10 years
• Providing early support and commitment to a collaborative health program for the developmentally disabled at Little City Foundation
• Volunteering more than 360 hours and seeing 670 patients at the Behavioral Health Navigator program since 2011
• Delivering guest lectures at Harper College on depression, blood pressure, physics, and the heart and brain
• Tutoring Harper College students in math and psychology during his time at the Palatine Opportunity Center
While serving as a collaborating physician at Little City, Dr. McGillen's support was critical in developing expertise and building a framework for working with patients with developmental disabilities. His relationships with NCH and Little City administrators, physicians, staff and families contributed to Little City's success.
As a result of Dr. McGillen's efforts, the number of Little City resident visits to the emergency department dropped 71percent and the number of resident visits to NCH Immediate Care Centers dropped 54 percent.
"John's commitment to serve the weak and vulnerable never ceases to amaze me," says Karen Baker, Director of Community Services at NCH. "He inspires me and everybody around him and I feel so fortunate that I have the opportunity to work with him."
Dr. McGillen currently volunteers for NCH's Behavioral Health Navigator program where he spent nearly 300 hours during the past year assisting with patients and working with staff.
About Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH)
Serving Chicago's northwest suburbs since 1959, NCH is a comprehensive, patient-centered system of care that serves more than 350,000 outpatients each year, as well as nearly 30,000 inpatients treated annually at the 496-bed acute care hospital in Arlington Heights. The award-winning hospital holds the prestigious Magnet designation for nursing excellence, is designated as a Primary Stroke Center, earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval in 2011, and was awarded the Leapfrog Group's designation as one of the nation's Top Hospitals based on quality and safety criteria. NCH has four Immediate Care locations in the northwest suburbs and operates a FastCare Clinic in Palatine. NCH has a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians, which includes the board-certified primary care doctors and specialists of the NCH Medical Group. The physicians who provide care at NCH may not be agents nor employees at Northwest Community Healthcare, or at any of our affiliate organizations. These physicians have selected our facility as a place where they want to treat and care for their private patients. For more information, or to find a doctor on the NCH Medical staff, visit www.nch.org.
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