Healthcare Heroes: Department of Medicine faculty receive messages of patient gratitude

Multiple University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine (UW DOM) faculty were recognized by grateful patients through this year’s Healthcare Heroes campaign, run by the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) and Wisconsin Medicine. 

The annual campaign invites patients who have received care from a UW Health provider in the preceding year to share a message of gratitude with that provider. 

Here are a few of the wonderful messages sent to those with faculty appointments in DOM:

• Sent to Adam Bregman, MD, MBA, assistant professor, Nephrology: "[...] Dr. Bregman, the transplant team, transplant floor staff and coordinators, thank you for saving my life. Your skill and compassion gave me a second chance at life. Forever grateful for more time with my family."
• Sent to Natalie Callander, MD, professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care: "Dr. Callander has surpassed my expectations of how a doctor treats a patient. She goes above and beyond always. I am forever eternally grateful."
• Sent to Brittany Galusha, MD, clinical associate professor, General Internal Medicine: “I'd like to recognize Dr. Galusha for the outstanding holistic care she provides to her patients. Brittany's unwavering commitment to caring for the "whole" person - body, mind, spirit, soul, and relationships - has helped me so much the past five years." And: "My wife and I are both retired physicians cared for by Dr. Galusha. She is outstanding in her medical expertise and extraordinary in the care and compassion shown by her team."
• Sent to James Haine, MD, clinical associate professor, General Internal Medicine: “I am so blessed with the thoughtfulness and care you give me. You are an exceptional doctor and I appreciate all you do for me.”
• Sent to Glenn Liu, MD, professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care:“[I] appreciate 25 years of consistent, personalized, cutting-edge cancer care during my unique rollercoaster cancer journey. Your team commitment to excellence shines."
• Sent to Michael Lucey, MD, professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology:“I have gone pas[t] my 11 year transplant anniversary and thank these people for all this extra time in my life. I've walked my daughter down the aisle, seen 2 granddaughters being born, and my son's marriage.”
• Sent to Ryan Mattison, MD, professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care:"You saved my life in so many ways."
• Sent to Nataliya Uboha, MD, PhD, associate professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care: "I owe a big thank you to Dr. Uboha. She was honest with me about the chemo treatments that she ordered, telling me the side effects that I should expect. I think she knew that I am a strong willed woman and could handle it to get better."
• Sent to Mary Zasadil, MD, clinical associate professor, Cardiovascular Medicine: "Mary has truly been my Guardian Angel, getting me through placement of 14 stents, managing a heart attack, and basically keeping me alive and working today."

A chance to give back

Every gift begins with gratitude and grows into something that touches countless lives.

Lynn Schnapp, MD, department chair

Philanthropic gifts accompanied many of the messages—gifts that vitally help support research, educational initiatives, faculty positions, patient care and more. 

"One of the most rewarding parts of Healthcare Heroes is seeing how patients choose to pay forward the care they have received," notes Lynn Schnapp, MD, department chair and George R. and Elaine Love Professor. "Their generosity does more than honor a physician or care team. It helps support new discoveries, enhances patient care, and creates opportunities that benefit future generations. Every gift begins with gratitude and grows into something that touches countless lives.”

And while campaigns like Healthcare Heroes do help facilitate grateful patient giving, so can individual, trusting relationships between patients and their providers.

“Often, patients want to express their appreciation in a deeper way but don’t realize that philanthropy can be part of that story,” says Dr. Schnapp. “Giving opens the door. It turns gratitude into something that strengthens care for everyone.”

If a patient expresses interest in supporting the work of the department through giving, a good place to start is to connect them with a member of the DOM philanthropy team:

• Pete Schmeling, CFRE, associate vice president of development, at 608-354-9388 or [email protected] (Endocrinology, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, Hospital Medicine, Infectious Disease)
• Deshawn McKinney, senior director of development, at 608-419-8100 or [email protected] (Nephrology, Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Cardiovascular Medicine, Rheumatology)