Support & Volunteering

Support for Safety Net Providers

Northwestern Memorial provided support to safety-net hospitals and other health organizations in the community through the donation of much needed medical equipment, computers and furniture. In addition, Northwestern provided consulting services free of charge to local safety net providers to help implement and support a new electronic health record system.

Emergency Preparedness

Northwestern Memorial is a designated Leadership Center in the Chicago Department of Public Health's Hospital Emergency Response and Preparedness Program, which plans coordinated emergency response to large-scale disasters across many public service organizations.

Volunteering

• Chicago Cares - Northwestern Memorial is a corporate sponsor of Chicago Cares. In June 2008, 180 Northwestern employees volunteered at the 15th Annual Chicago Cares Serve-A-Thon. Northwestern Memorial donated supplies and Northwestern Memorial employees and youth from our youth and education programs volunteers painted classrooms at Ferdinand W. Peck Elementary School.
• Adopt-A-School - Northwestern sponsors an annual Adopt-A-School program, during which Northwestern Memorial Hospital employees buy and donate more than 600 holiday gifts for students at the Jenner Academy.
• Board Affiliations - Members of Northwestern Memorial's leadership team serve on boards and advisory boards of local community and community health organizations, including:
  • Erie Family Health
  • Near North Community Health Center
  • Lawson House YMCA
  • Community Health
  • United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
  • WorkforceChicago2.0
  • Greater North Michigan Avenue Association
  • Streeterville Chamber of Commerce
  • Chicago Central Area Committee
  • The Commercial Club of Chicago
  • The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
• Campaigns - Northwestern Memorial's employees support a wide range of charities including United Way, March of Dimes, Go Red heart health campaign, and walk-a-thon campaigns to support cancer and AIDS research.

Health Information

Recognizing that people need a credible, timely, accessible and easy-to-understand source for many kinds of health information, Northwestern Memorial offers a wide range of health information to the community:

• The Health Learning Center, located on the third floor of Galter Pavilion, offers a state-of-the-art information library, where any member of the community can visit and conduct research free of charge, as well as receive individualized help from the staff of professional health educators and medical librarians.
• The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University has additional health information resources available within, where members of the community can obtain information on cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment.
• The  Alberto Culver Womens Health Learning Center , which is located in the new Prentice Women's Hospital, offers journals, videos, pamphlets and private internet workstations free to the public, as well as a wide variety of classes and support groups focused on women. Many are provided at no or minimal cost. Some of these programs include:
  • Together in the Loss of a Child, a support group for parents of infants who have died during pregnancy or shortly after birth
  • New Mom's Group, a group session for women struggling emotionally with the demands of infants and motherhood
  • Transitions to Motherhood, an educational and psychosocial support group for mothers first experiencing the challenge of newborns
  • Teen Great Expectations, a childbirth and newborn care class for expectant teens
  • Parents of Multiples, a course offered to expectant parents of twins or more multiples