Ensuring Saint John's Future

By Nancy Brands Ward / Photographed by Matthew Smith

Mary Ann Jackson found a health care home at Saint John's and will remember the hospital through an estate gift.

In 2007, Mary Ann Jackson and her husband, Roger, were hiking in the Swiss Alps when he began experiencing extreme balance problems. "We knew something was wrong," the now-87-year-old Mary Ann says. "We needed a doctor, and Saint John's was highly recommended."

Roger's difficulties were caused by Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition of the brain cells that control the body's movement. Parkinson's tends to affect people after age 60 and more men than women. It is characterized by unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Although it's not curable, treatment can slow the disease's progression and treat its symptoms.

But Mary Ann faced a problem in obtaining the medical treatment her husband needed. Roger had grown up on a farm in Illinois where medical care was sparse, and he had a "brick wall" attitude about medical care. "He didn't like doctors," Mary Ann explains.

Then someone recommended Jonathan Weaver, MD, a gerontologist at Providence Saint John's Medical Center. Patiently, over time, Dr. Weaver got to know Roger and broke down that wall one brick at a time, gaining his trust.

"He was this young kid just starting out," says Mary Ann, who can often be found gardening at her Brentwood home or walking around the neighborhood. "But he did such a masterful job, I always thought it should be videotaped for teaching other doctors."

Dr. Weaver took care of Roger for seven years until he died nine years ago. During those years, Roger had seen several neurologists who offered to try various medicines to see which would work. He rebuffed them, saying, "That's not the kind of medical care I want." And he returned to Dr. Weaver at Saint John's.

Mary Ann also became a patient of Dr. Weaver and continues to see him for "age-related" issues. "If you have a doctor who cares, where else are you going to go?" she says.

It's not just Dr. Weaver. Mary Ann praises the many Saint John's physicians who, she says, provide individualized care. She referred a friend to Saint John's after that friend was unable to find the right doctor for breast cancer treatment. "My friend was treated like an individual with particular needs," Mary Ann says.

Because of that kind of personalized care, the Jacksons supported Providence Saint John's Health Center over the years. After Roger passed at age 83, Mary Ann began thinking about making a larger gift to the hospital through planned giving. "Who knows what the next phase in my life will be? And with no children, it's a good idea to give the money to an organization I believe in," she says.

Mary Ann worked with the Saint John's Health Center Foundation four years ago to set up a charitable gift annuity that provides her with fixed payments for life, with the remaining principal going to the foundation when she passes.

Following several years of annuity payments from the foundation, Mary Ann recently decided that she did not need the income and generously chose to cancel her annuity. Her funds will now be available for immediate use and will be designated to support the greatest needs of the hospital and the Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program.

"We are truly grateful to Mary Ann for her visionary generosity that now we can put right to work in the areas she cares about. We are honored to be a part of Mr. and Mrs. Jackson's philanthropic legacy," says Andy Trilling, vice president of principal and estate gifts.

"I don't like sending money where I don't know the organization, the people, and what they do," Mary Ann says. "But Saint John's provides care to the community and individualized care for their patients. We need large research hospitals, but we also need community hospitals. The fact that Saint John's is both is truly special."