03/01/2018
Four local community leaders have been named to steer the Wentworth-Douglass Foundation’s Board of Directors’ Executive Committee. The mission of the Wentworth-Douglass Foundation and its Board is to cultivate philanthropic gifts that will benefit the patient care and programs at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover.
Jay Levy, senior vice president of Measured Wealth Private Client Group in Portsmouth, will serve as chairman. David Verno, vice president and partner at Leone, McDonnell & Roberts, PA, in Dover, will serve as vice chairman. Attorney Thomas Torr, a founding partner of Cocheco Elder Law Associates, PLLC, in Dover, will be treasurer, and Jackie Eastwood,co-founder and former President and CEO of TissueLink Medical Inc., of Dover, will serve as secretary.
“One reason I do this work is because I know that life can change in a second, and having access to quality health care close by is so important,” says Levy, a certified financial planner. “When your life is in someone else’s hands, you want to know that the highest level of trust is a ‘given’ for you and your loved ones.”
Levy’s philanthropic work with the Foundation began as chair of the Stewardship and Plan Advisory Council. “First and foremost, I have learned that medicine is about value,” Levy says. “For me, there is no time limit on my service to this hospital.”
Verno’s long-standing association with the Foundation began when he toured Wentworth-Douglass Hospital around 2002. “I was hooked when I took a tour,” he says. “I was completely amazed by what is right here in my backyard _ from the Seacoast Cancer Center to the emergency room.”
A self-described “finance guy” and certified public accountant for more than 30 years, Verno says it’s gratifying to see employees raising funds for Wentworth-Douglass. “It gives me such a boost of confidence in the mission of the Foundation,” he says.
Torr’s family has a long tradition of service to Wentworth-Douglass. “I always joke that my Foundation work is in my genes,” he says. “My mother was a 30-year volunteer at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. And the old saying is true: When you do something you love, you get more than you give.”
Torr cites “philanthropy as absolutely critical to the success of the hospital, especially in the current healthcare environment, when dollars and budgets are tighter and tighter.” He says Wentworth-Douglass recently becoming a subsidiary of Massachusetts General Hospital “makes an exceptionally good hospital into a great hospital and expands the depth and scope of what we can provide right here locally.”
Eastwood, who has been to thousands of hospitals worldwide as the co-founder of a medical technology company, says she truly considers Wentworth-Douglass an exceptional institution. “People are not always aware of the high level of sophisticated care offered here,” she says.
“The fact that Mass General wanted to put their stamp on our hospital, when they can choose from the very best, is a testament that Wentworth-Douglass offers the finest medical care available.”