Funds to be used to develop health campus on Indianapolis' northwest side
November 13, 2006
Contact: Todd Harper
Phone: 317-630-7808
Pager: 317-310-5972
Indianapolis, November 13, 2006 ? The Wishard Memorial Foundation has received a major pledge to make upgrades and develop a health campus on the current site of the Philip and Vivian Pecar Health Center.
Central Indiana residents James and Lois Ackerman recently pledged $500,000 to the Wishard Memorial Foundation to be used to make improvements to Pecar Health Center located at 6940 N. Michigan Road in Indianapolis. In recognition of this commitment, the location of the campus will be recognized as the Jim and Lois Ackerman Health Campus. The campus, which includes Pecar Health Center, will be developed into a multi-use health complex serving Indianapolis? northwest side.
"The Wishard Memorial Foundation is very pleased to accept this wonderful gift from Jim and Lois Ackerman. These funds will go a long way in helping us to continue to meet the healthcare needs of the residents of Marion County," said Vicki F. Perry, chair of the Wishard Memorial Foundation's board of directors.
After serving as a liaison pilot in the United States Air Force in World War II, Jim Ackerman was instrumental in developing new methods of financing for the expansion of the fledgling cable television industry. In the 1970s he founded a series of cable TV-related ventures including Communications Advisors, Becker Communications and Cardinal Communications. He now serves as chair of Cardinal Ventures, a successful Indiana venture capital firm.
Jim and Lois Ackerman were good friends of Phil and Vivian Pecar for whom the Pecar Health Center was named. In 1992 they established the Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship at Purdue University. Jim and Lois, both avid golfers and Purdue supporters, rebuilt the south course of Purdue University which is now called Ackerman Hills.
"All of us at Wishard are indescribably grateful to Jim and Lois for their compassion, vision and generosity," said Matthew R. Gutwein, president and chief executive officer, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, which owns and operates Wishard Health Services. "This extraordinary gift will have an immediate and profound impact on the healthcare of our community's most vulnerable."
The Pecar Health Center provides a medical home for families in the areas of internal and family medicine, pediatrics, adolescent care, family planning, dental care and social services. The center is one of eight Wishard Health Services neighborhood health centers located throughout Indianapolis. The center was opened in 2003 to benefit northwest Indianapolis residents and was established in memory of Philip and Vivian Pecar.
The center is a collaborative initiative of the Marion County Health Department, Wishard Health Services, IU Medical Group-Primary Care and Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County.
The Wishard Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a public philanthropic organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness that support healthcare initiatives benefiting residents of Marion County with special emphasis on its poor and vulnerable populations. The Foundation was established in 1985 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Wishard Health Services is the public hospital division of the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County and is managed by the Indiana University School of Medicine whose physicians provide a comprehensive range of primary and specialty services.
For more information about the Wishard Memorial Foundation or to make a contribution, please call the Wishard Memorial Foundation at (317) 630-6451 or visit www.WishardFoundation.org.