Rebecca Bair, Vice President, Philanthropy

Rebecca Bair, Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) has been named Vice President, Philanthropy, for UM Memorial Hospital Foundation.

UM Memorial Hospital Foundation raises funds to advance health care programs and services at UM Shore Medical Center at Easton, UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown, the Cancer Center at UM SRH and the Clark Comprehensive Breast Center. Bair joined the UM SRH leadership team after serving three years as Associate Vice President, Development, at Memorial Hermann Foundation in Houston, Texas, where she led a fundraising team that generated over $15 million annually, while personally raising $7 million in her first two years.

Bair also held leadership positions in fundraising for educational and health care organizations including Stony Brook University and Medical Center in Stony Brook, N.Y.; Banner Health in Phoenix, Ariz.; Yavapai Regional Medical Center and Foundation in Prescott, Ariz.; and Catholic Healthcare West- Shared Business Services, in Phoenix, Ariz.

Bair’s significant career achievements include managing a campaign that successfully raised more than $70 million for the State University of New York Stony Brook College of Arts and Sciences, raising almost $4 million in 2013 for Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and leading and managing numerous successful annual, capital and planned giving campaigns.

Bair holds multiple academic degrees including a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Maryland College Park, a Master of Science in Human Relations and Training and Development from University of Oklahoma and a Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

“We are indeed fortunate to have Rebecca Bair taking the reins of our Memorial Hospital Foundation,” said Ken Kozel, President and Chief Executive Officer, UM SRH. “In the course of her 25-year career in philanthropy, she has led fundraising teams at multiple organizations in successfully securing more than $100 million in financial support. As we look forward to the next phase in the advancement of UM Shore Regional Health, Rebecca’s considerable talent, expertise and energy will be a valuable asset.”

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

The Population Health team at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health (UM SRH) launched a campaign in July 2022 to encourage people of all ages to complete an advance directive and share it with the health care system to be scanned into their personal electronic medical record (EMR).

During the first year of the campaign, Population Health team members Kathy Sellers and Terry Satchell, RN were given an ambitious goal: Collect and scan at least 1,000 advance directives for inclusion in individuals’ EMRs by July 1, 2023. To make it easy for locals to file their advance directive paperwork with the health care system, secure drop boxes were installed outside all four UM Shore Regional Health emergency entrances – Cambridge, Chestertown, Easton and Queenstown. (The documents also may be scanned and sent via e-mail.)

Photo: UM Shore Regional Health Population Health team members Terry Satchell (left) and Kathy Sellers (right) congratulated Easton resident Richard “Brooke” Lynch (center) on being the 1,000th person to submit an Advance Directive for inclusion in his Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at UM SRH since July 2022.

“We also went out and about in all five counties, talking to people at health fairs, senior living communities and community organizations about the importance of advance directives, providing the paperwork and answering questions,” said Sellers.

This outreach helped the campaign gain momentum, and on June 19, 2023, the 1,000th advance directive – completed by Richard “Brooke” Lynch of Easton – landed in Sellers’ email inbox.

“I learned about this opportunity when I spoke to Terry and Kathy during a health fair at the community center where I live,” said Lynch. “I had done my advance directive a few times over the years, so it was a matter of updating it and sending it for inclusion in my electronic medical record with the health care system.”

As the second year of the advance directive initiative gets under way, Sellers and Satchell have a new goal: 1,250 directives completed and scanned into the appropriate EMR by July 1, 2024.

“An advance directive is a gift to your loved ones if you become incapacitated,” said Satchell. “It spares them from having to make difficult choices, from high-tech medical interventions to palliative care, on your behalf. Through an advance directive, you document for health care providers what you want — or don’t want — in terms of your end-of-life care.”

While many people put off completing their advance directive, others do so, but keep the paperwork in a drawer at home or on file in their lawyer’s office, or both.

“In that case, there can be delays in locating your advance directive and contacting the person you appointed as your health care agent,” said Satchell. “This is why we are offering the option of having the paperwork scanned into your EMR, where it can be accessed promptly by the clinicians providing your care.”

“We hope more organizations will be willing to host us to talk to their members about this important aspect of managing their health care,” said Sellers. “We are now working on a new schedule of visits that will start in September.”

For more information or to send an advance directive for inclusion in your EMR, contact Sellers, [email protected]

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.

Shore Community Outreach Team (SCOT) will offer a free program, “Organizing Your Health,” on Monday, July 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chestertown Town Hall, 118 North Cross Street. The event is sponsored by HomePorts, a 501(c)3 charitable organization serving the needs of greater Kent County residents 55 and over.HomePorts’ mission is to identify, monitor and ensure access to a wide range of services that help members to remain safe and live comfortably in their own homes.

“‘Organizing Your Health’ provides education, tips, and tricks for staying organized when managing your own health or a loved one’s health,” said Emily Welsh, MSN, RN, Nurse Coordinator for SCOT. “We appreciate HomePorts’ support in enabling us to offer this free workshop in such a central, convenient location in Chestertown, and we look forward to a strong turnout.”

Topics of the workshop will include communicating effectively with providers, what preventive care and screenings should be done and when, health journaling, advance directives, medication management, and use of health care technology. Light refreshments and socializing will be enjoyed after the presentation.

To register, visit https://homeports.org/homeportsevent/organizing-your-health/

About University of Maryland Shore Regional Health

As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s team of more than 2,200 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers works with various community partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.