Check out our new Instagram page launched by Guild member Lucy Fisher.  She and fellow member Hannah Redfern have been activating new formats to help publicize the many ways the Irene Dunne Guild supports Saint John's Health Center for our community.

Posted in Circling The News by Sue Pascoe-scroll down for link to original post:

​IRENE DUNNE GUILD SUPPORTS DOCTORS/NURSES DURING COVID-19​​

This year, the Irene Dunne Guild’s yearly patron drive funds going are going to help support doctors and nurses at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The drive is a letter-writing campaign from the more than 120 Guild members to friend, families and associates in the community requesting donations.
From the drive so far, movie trailers were rented for the staff, so they were able to shower and change before leaving the hospital for home. Guild funds have also paid for a laundry service to wash the scrubs for the staff and purchased new scrubs to have on hand when needed.
Additionally, 10 new iPads were bought and distributed between intensive care, emergency room and the progressive coronary care unit. One of the iPads was for labor and delivery so the fathers, who cannot be in the hospital, can see their new babies when they are born.
Each year, the Guild, which has about 51 Palisadian members, typically provides more than $100,000 to St. John’s and has funded a natural birthing center, an ultrasound machine, portable childbirth monitors, an OB/GYN table and a Fast Track system for the emergency room.
As well, the Guild has created numerous programs, including a hospital gift shop, a volunteer effort called Angels of the ER, a library of books, CDs and DVDs for patients and waiting loved ones, toys for children in the hospital, childbirth classes, lactation classes and a clothing closet to aid patients.
Founded in 1987, the Guild has raised more than $17 million for Saint John’s vital programs, equipment and special projects.

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We are pleased to announce that beginning at 6 p.m. tonight, caregivers will have access to showers so they may wash before heading home after their shift.  These showers are available for all shifts and are located in the valet lot (between hospital and Sunshine Café).  Look for the Star Wagons [parked at the Health Center].  The showers are equipped with body wash, shampoo, wash cloths and towels.  A big shout out to our operations team, Saint John’s Health Center Foundation and the Irene Dunne Guild who have been working on this project for over a week.  We appreciate you!
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The Irene Dunne Guild has been allocating funds from our Patron Drive to support caregivers at this crucial time of need during the Covid-19 pandemic.  To help us provide even more support to our caregivers, please click the links on this site to donate to our Patron Drive fund.  Thank you for your support! 

Janis Gallo has been elected president of the Irene Dunne Guild 11 years after joining the organization. The IDG is a volunteer group of community members that supports the health center under the umbrella of the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation. Gallo was an invited guest at the IDG annual signature event, the Think Pink luncheon and boutique, in 2009 and was immediately impressed with the group and its mission. “When I first went to a Think Pink luncheon, I realized this is a group I felt an affinity to,” she says. “I felt they were devoted, intelligent and interested in doing something and in giving.”

Gallo, who gave birth to her three children at Saint John’s, has worked tirelessly for the guild since then. As president, she wants to raise awareness about the group’s role. The 102-member guild raises money to support special programs or equipment for the hospital. Recently, the IDG donated funds to purchase portable fetal monitors for the labor and delivery unit and for a special bed for stroke patients. The guild also sponsors the Beauty Bus, which creates pop-up salons where Saint John’s patients and caregivers receive a variety of complimentary beauty and grooming services. The IDG also recently raised and donated funds to support a broad array of needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations from members have increased this year due to the pandemic, Gallo says. That is in keeping with the spirit of the IDG members. “We step up to do things that weren’t in the hospital budget. This is our community hospital.” 

See original tarticle in Fall 2020 Saint John's Magazine

The ​Beauty Bus Gives the Gift of Pampering to Patients, Caregivers

​TODAY spotlights the inspiring efforts of the Beauty Bus, a nonprofit that gives loving care to hospital patients and their caregivers. The foundation, which is marking its 10th year, began as a passion project for one woman who turned the loss of her sister into something beautiful for others.

​Click here for link to original article and video on Today

[Irene Dunne Guild member] Mary and Jay Flaherty have donated $5 million to Saint John’s Health Center Foundation in support of the exceptional health care and research of Providence Saint John’s Health Center, John Wayne Cancer Institute and Pacific Neuroscience Institute.
“We’re so thankful to Mary and Jay for their generous gift,” said foundation president and CEO Bob Klein.  “This gift not only supports ground breaking, bench to bedside research and health care, it signals to the larger community that this campus is worthy of major support. This type of philanthropy is absolutely critical to bringing state-of-the-art medical care to more people.”
The $5 million gift will be shared equally among John Wayne Cancer Institute, Pacific Neuroscience Institute and Providence Saint John’s Health Center, the anchor of the three affiliates. “The compassionate and personalized care that Saint John’s is known for, coupled with the cutting-edge research of John Wayne Cancer Institute and Pacific Neuroscience Institute, is a unique model in health care and a partnership destined for great success in the field of medicine, which is why we wanted to provide our support,” said Mary Flaherty.
Mary Flaherty is a grateful patient of Saint John’s and she currently serves as Chair of Saint John’s Health Center Foundation Board of Trustees. “My connection to Saint John’s is a family tradition that goes back more than forty years. Saint John’s and its affiliates have been there for me and my family as the cornerstone of our health care and we want to ensure its success as a world-class health center for years to come,” said Mary and her husband, Jay.
The gift will support new developments in breast cancer treatment and research, advancements in the field of neurosciences and cardiology, as well as technology updates to ensure Saint John’s, John Wayne Cancer Institute and the newly formed Pacific Neuroscience Institute, build upon their reputation as pioneers in medicine.
“The Flaherty’s are pillars of our community and their gift will allow us to make enhancements to programs and services so we can offer the latest in medical treatments to those in need. This empowers our caregivers, doctors and nurses to do what they do best, treating each patient with compassion and dignity,” said Marcel Loh, chief executive of Providence Saint John’s Health Center and John Wayne Cancer Institute.

​The Irene Dunne Guild generously funds Beauty Bus services at Saint John’s. The Beauty Bus gives compassion, hope to California hospital patients.  Thanks to the IDG, Beauty Bus is at Saint John's Health Center every Tuesday going room to room performing free hair, nail and facial services for patients and their caregivers to bring dignity and compassion to families.  In addition, IDG funding allows Beauty Bus to do a Pop-Up Salon every year for staff caregivers throughout the Health Center to be pampered.

By Laurel Busby
Staff Writer
Think Pink, an annual celebration focusing on the health care of women and their families, was the brainchild of Pacific Palisades realtor Fran Flanagan and the Irene Dunne Guild.
Guild members, who raise money and act as ambassadors for St. John’s Health Center, work hard each year to create this fun and inspiring health education event. Think Pink, which this year was held May 17 at the Upper Bel-Air Bay Club, always occurs around Mother’s Day, and the timing is not accidental.
“I wanted to celebrate and honor our mothers, because who teaches you to take care of yourself? Your mothers,” said Flanagan, who came up with the idea for Think Pink when she was Guild president in 2005. “It’s a day of learning about what we need to know to take care of ourselves, our husbands, our sisters, our mothers—all of that stuff we do all the time. It’s giving us the tools to do that.”
This year’s event, which also commemorated the Irene Dunne Guild’s 30th anniversary, featured author and filmmaker Sharon Weil as the keynote luncheon speaker, who shared insights about the choices and challenges inherent in embracing life’s inevitable changes. Her books include “ChangeAbility” and Donny and “Ursula Save the World.”

Past Irene Dunne Guild presidents are (left to right sitting) Cammie Hall, Jill Robertson, Kate Prudente, Su-Z Schneider and (standing) Fran Flanagan, Mary Flaherty, Brenda McDonald (current president) and Chris Geller.The informative celebration, which was chaired by Sandy Line and Loraine Sinskey, also held a boutique and health-related breakout sections, including emergency room Dr. Victor Candioty providing advice on handling unexpected health events, dermatologist Dr. Ava Shamban discussing what skin indicates about our overall health, internist Dr. Ora K. Gordon exploring the mind-body connection, and nutritionist Leona West examining how food connects to health.
Over the years, Think Pink sessions have focused on a variety of topics, including “arthritis, diabetes, mental health, depression, anxiety, drug abuse, palliative care, end-of-life care and what dangers can lurk in your medical cabinet,” said Flanagan, who noted that sometimes the information has even been lifesaving for attendees. “There’s a lot of information out there, but there’s also a lot of incorrect information out there. This helps you sort through it.”
Health care was particularly important to Flanagan’s late mother, a registered nurse, who would have been 100 on May 14. “She was an advocate of health information, educating the client, explaining things,” Flanagan said. “She believed that knowledge is comfort. This is my way of saying, ‘I honor you, mom.’”
For the members of the Irene Dunne Guild, whose current president is Brenda McDonald, the event has been a special cause. Melinda Casey came on in subsequent years as the boutique chairman and the eventual event co-chair, while Palisadians Dolly Niemann, Susie deWeese, Patty Black (owner of Black Ink) and Debi Bishton have also worked hard to make it a success.
But it is only one part of the Guild’s health care mission. The 123 members, who range in age from their 20s to 80s, have provided millions of dollars in assistance to St. John’s Hospital over the years. A letter-writing campaign has raised more than $850,000, while the Caritas Gala, an annual black-tie dinner the Guild co-hosts, has raised more than $11 million through the decades.
Each year, the Guild, which has 51 Pali- sadians as members, typically provides more than $100,000 to St. John’s and has funded a natural birthing center, an ultra-sound machine, portable childbirth monitors, an OB/GYN table and a Fast Track system for the emergency room.
As well, the Guild has created numerous programs, including a hospital gift shop, a volunteer effort called Angels of the ER, a library of books, CDs and DVDs for patients and waiting loved ones, toys for children in the hospital, childbirth classes, lactation classes and a clothing closet to aid patients.
“If some particular doctor or program needs support, they often bring that to the Guild, and we decide whether we can help support them,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan, a Coldwell Banker realtor, became involved with the organization when her friend and colleague, Su-Z Schneider, invited her to join in 2003. Flanagan and her husband, Terry, had moved to the Palisades in 1970 and raised three children here, including Erin, 52, who works for the National Park Service, and two current Palisadians, Tolley, 51, a casting director, and Elizabeth, 44, a digital marketing executive.
The Irene Dunne Guild and its support of St. John’s always resonated with Flanagan. The Guild is named after the well-respected actress, who was one of the first members and also a longtime hospital philanthropist, but it was actually begun by Sister Marie Madeline, a nun who was an active advocate for St. John’s.
“She [Sister Marie] was the absolute backbone of that hospital,” Flanagan said. And the annual Think Pink event, which has grown from 50 attendees to 275 this year, has become the backbone and “the mother lode of the Irene Dunne Guild. It’s the way we put ourselves there.”
Click here to link to original article in Palisades News

SANTA MONICA, CA (October 22, 2016) – The Irene Dunne Guild co-hosted the 2016 Caritas Gala in partnership with the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation board of trustees tonight (Saturday, Oct. 22) at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills. The black-tie event honored Jennifer Beals with the Caritas Award; Allyson Felix with the inaugural Hope & Inspiration Award; and Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan, on behalf of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, with the Spirit of Saint John’s Award. The Caritas Gala honors individuals who exemplify dedication and commitment to the community and embody the philosophy and mission of Saint John’s.
 
The evening featured a special performance by singer/songwriter and actress Alisan Porter, recent winner of NBC’s The Voice, Season 10.
 
Donna L. Schweers, chair of Saint John’s Health Center Foundation board of trustees, welcomed the more than 400   guests, noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of Saint John’s, “…a community of care that includes a remarkable and remarkably dedicated group of physicians delivering world-class clinical care.” She went on to acknowledge the evening’s dinner chairs (Debra and Norris J. Bishton Jr., The Martha and David L. Ho Family, Shelby Notkin, Dominic J. Ornato and the Schweers-Geiser Family) before introducing gala co-chairs Judy Beck and Kathy Yawitz. Beck recognized guild president, Brenda McDonald and stated the guild would be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2017. Yawitz acknowledged that since its inception, the guild has raised more than $13 million, resulting in a host of new equipment and programs that benefit Saint Johns’ patients throughout the hospital’s many departments.
 
Marcel Loh, chief executive of Providence Saint John’s Health Center and John Wayne Cancer Center, shared exciting  Health Center updates and accolades including the recent U.S. News and World Report top ranking for knee and hip replacements and treatment of congestive heart failure. He also acknowledged honoree Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan as “the embodiment of the community support that created and sustains Saint John’s legacy of excellence.”
 
Robert O. Klein, president and CEO of Saint John’s Health Center Foundation, presented the Spirit of Saint John’s Award to the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation. Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan, chair of the Leavey Foundation, daughter of its founders and a Saint John’s Health Center Foundation trustee accepted the award. “Kathleen and the Leavey Foundation,” said Klein “have for many, many years been ‘stand by your side’ kind of friends to us at Saint John’s, the ones who are always there in times of real need, and not just with financial support, but also encouragement, energy and vision.”
 
Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan serves as a trustee of the University of Southern California as well as several community and charitable boards. Thomas Leavey co-founded Farmers Insurance in 1928 based on the premise that rural drivers should pay less for insurance because they encountered less risk than their urban-dwelling counterparts. After the insurance company became one of the most successful in the nation, Leavey and his wife Dorothy E. Risley Leavey started the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation in 1952 to share their good fortune with medical, Catholic and educational community institutions they supported.
 
Olympic Gold medalist Joanna Hayes presented the 2016 Hope & Inspiration Award to six-time Olympic champion, Allyson Felix, noting that “it is an honor to present the award to my friend and my inspiration.”
 
Olympian Felix is now the most decorated female track and field Olympian in history. Felix grew up in Los Angeles. Her father, Paul, an ordained minister, was an excellent sprinter as a teen. She inherited her long legs from her school teacher mother, Marlean. Felix attended Los Angeles Baptist High School in North Hills and accomplished impressive feats over her high school career. She broke Marion Jones’ high-school 200-meter record in April, 2003. Weeks later, she competed in the Banamex Grand Prix in Mexico City and ran a blazing 22.11 200-meter race, a new world record in the under-20 category. Felix won three gold medals in the 2012 Olympic Games and followed that up in 2016 with two more gold medals and a silver medal.
 
Sheryl Ross, MD, presented the Caritas Award to “my patient and dear friend, Jennifer Beals,” describing the internationally renowned actress as “a fierce activist for social change and equality for the underdog. She sees the world as it is, but believes we have the power to make it better.”
 
As part of the presentation to Beals, John M. Robertson, MD, announced that the actress and activist has partnered with clothing designers and a number of Saint John’s physicians including Dr. Ross, Nicole Weinberg, MD, and himself to help research and develop a new type of bra that can be used in the everyday stress testing of women evaluated for cardiovascular disease and for women recovering from open heart surgery.
 
Jennifer Beals has been featured in more than 50 films and among some of the highest rated television series to date. Currently she stars in NBC’s medical drama The Night Shift, and can next be seen as the female lead in Taken, NBC’s straight-to-series adaptation of the hit movie franchise. She earned a Golden Globe nomination and won an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress for her role in the iconic film Flashdance, a Canadian Screen Award nomination for her role in A Wife’s Nightmare and a Golden Satellite Award for her role in Twilight of the Golds. Beals recently starred in Manhattan Night, and her latest film project, Before I Fall, will be released theatrically in April 2017. She will executive produce the upcoming dance drama The Edge, recently sold to FOX, teaming up with Kenny Ortega and James Larosa. Beals starred in TNT’s Proof, The Chicago Code and the hit Showtime series The L Word, which aired for six seasons and garnered her two NAACP Image Awards and a Satellite Award nomination. Beals received the Maverick Tribute Award at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival in 1999. She was presented with the Human Rights Campaign’s Ally for Equality Award in 2012 for her support in the LGBT community.
 
Net proceeds from the gala benefit vital programs and services at the Health Center. Since 1987, the guild has raised more than $13 million and has supported Saint John’s through a wide variety of innovative philanthropic, educational and volunteer programs and services. The guild was named for the late actress Irene Dunne, considered the “First Lady” of Saint John’s.
 
Past Caritas Gala honorees include: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Martin Sheen, Vin Scully, Robert Wagner, Angela Lansbury, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards, Chris O’Donnell, Tonian Hohberg, Raylene and Bruce Meyer, Merle and Peter Mullin and Jimmy Stewart.
 
About Saint John’s Health Center Foundation
Saint John’s Health Center Foundation inspires philanthropic support for Providence Saint John’s Health Center and the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica. Private support provides the margin of excellence that enables both the hospital and the Institute to be leaders in the quality of care and research they provide. For more information, visit www.SaintJohnsFoundation.org.
 # # #
Contact:
 
Pam Giangregorio                                           
Katy Sweet & Associates Public Relations             
310-479-2333 / Pam@KatySweetPR.com               
​

Last year’s Think Pink fundraiser may have saved Brooke Crane’s life.
The 39-year-old mother of two heard the main speaker, Dr. Chloe Bird, repeatedly urge the mostly female audience to pay attention if they felt tightness above their bellybuttons and below their chins. Crane, a lifelong Palisadian, took note, but didn’t think it would happen to her.
That night it did.
“It sort of felt like a fat man was sitting on my chest,” Crane said. “So what did I do? Initially, I just ignored it.”
​
The timing wasn’t good. Her husband, Bryan, was out of town, it was raining, and she had chores to do like putting her two daughters to bed. In order to go to the emergency room, she’d have to get assistance, including someone to stay with her kids, Carly, 8, and Caroline, 6.
However, Bird had insisted that women in particular need to put their health first, and when Crane paused and listened to her body, she felt an “uh-oh feeling.”
She had some other issues that had seemed minor: a persistent cough and fatigue plus a small bump on her right clavicle that her doctor had thought was just a swollen lymph node due to a cold. However, when Crane checked in with herself, she felt concerned.
“Something wasn’t quite right, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about Dr. Bird’s advice: I matter. I deserve to slow down, listen to my body and take action if necessary,” Crane said.
It was lucky that she listened. When she and her mother-in-law Janie Crane got to St. John’s Hospital, she learned after a battery of tests that she had fluid around her heart and a mass in her chest. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer that accounts for .5 percent of cancers, had struck her.
However, Crane caught it in time, beat it with 12 rounds of chemotherapy in a six-month treatment plan, and this year on May 11, was the main speaker at the Irene Dunne Guild’s Think Pink event at the Bel-Air Bay Club.
Instead of a doctor offering advice, Crane was able to provide information from the patient’s point of view to the almost 250 attendees who came to learn more about women’s health care.
Her top ten “take-aways” from this life-changing experience were:
1.) Make the first 48 hours after the diagnosis count. In her case, she and her loved ones channeled their intense emotions into research and calls that created a manageable path for her treatment.
2.) Talk to people who have been through something similar.
3.) Get multiple opinions. Crane resisted this at first as she immediately liked the hospital’s oncologist. But then she got a second opinion and a third. The third time was a charm. Dr. Lawrence Piro’s treatment plan, which included an ABVD chemo regime that he helped invent, was the perfect match for her and created a less intense path that didn’t require radiation.
4.) Be willing to say yes when people offer advice and help, and don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. For Crane, this meant she accepted private yoga lessons from a mom she’d never met and made new friends who aided her.
5.) Give people specific tasks/jobs—they want to help so let them. A friend took over her emails, and another coordinated meals for her. Others regularly accompanied her to chemo treatments.
6.) Write a blog or journal—or find some other way to communicate simply with people, so that the task of notifying people of treatment progress is easier.
7.) Take control in your own way, and don’t let the disease control you. For Crane, this meant she chose to shave her head whether she would end up needing it or not.
8.) Have an open mind—Crane chose to try jin shin jytsu, a helpful acupressure treatment for the pain and nausea of chemo.
9.) Have faith in a higher power. Crane said she “chose faith over fear.”
And finally, “number 10,” Crane said, “which I learned last year, right here in this room from Dr. Bird, and it probably saved my life: ‘Listen to your body.’”
By LAUREL BUSBY
Staff Writer
Brooke Crane Photo: Glenn Marzano

Click here to link to original article in Palisades News