Patient advocacy fund founder honored by CHSP with plaque
Photographer: Lauren BowersHerbert Eglie (right) receives a plaque honoring his patient advocacy fund for the College of Health Sciences and Professions from Dean Randy Leite (left).
91视频 graduate Herbert E. Eglie is passionate about healthcare personnel communicating at a high level with patients; so much so that in 2014 he committed $1 million to establish the Herbert E. Eglie Patient Advocacy Fund. On Sept. 7, he was invited to the College of Health Sciences and Professions鈥 Student Scholarship Awards Reception where he was presented with a replica of a plaque that hangs in the interprofessional education lab on the second floor of Grover Center in honor of Eglie鈥檚 gift.
CHSP Dean Randy Leite said Eglie is a 鈥渧ery valued friend of the college鈥 and thanked him for his generosity and the manner in which he gave.
鈥淲hen people make gifts to the college, you get a thick stack of papers and contracts will all kinds of language about how to use the money and what you can and can鈥檛 do. Herb鈥檚 gift agreement was basically one sentence. It just said to use this gift to help your students communicate better with their patients,鈥 Leite said. 鈥淗e has a passion about that and we thank him. It鈥檚 been a wonderful gift for the college that will bear fruit for decades to come.鈥
Eglie is a 1957 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences and former food service director at Aramark. In an interview following the ceremony, Eglie said that he, his deceased wife, his mother, an aunt and many of his good friends felt mistreated by medical professionals and he wanted to do something about it.
鈥淚 want for everyone in the medical profession, from the top to the bottom, to do a better job of relating to people and to listening to the patient,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he patient needs to be solicited and made comfortable to speak up and say yes, no or whatever when being treated.鈥
Eglie said the fund is meant to help health professionals communicate and create a two-way street for that communication with patients to help prevent misdiagnosis and facilitate both healing and confidence in medical professionals.
Sally Marinellie, senior associate dean of CHSP, and Tobe Gillogly, chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Studies, are collaborating with Merri Biechler and Samuel Dodd, of the College of Fine Arts, to implement the initiative by designing courses that equip future healthcare professionals with effective patient communication skills and increase their self-awareness in regard to overall communication.
鈥淚 feel like overall our society has a communication issue and that can鈥檛 exist in healthcare. You have to be able to communicate with patients and their families,鈥 Gillogly said. 鈥淚 know how much this means to Mr. Eglie. He is passionate about this and he should be.鈥
Eglie said he鈥檚 been told community studies are taking place to gather information from people with medical conditions regarding their interactions with medical personnel. That information will be used to help students devise new ways to communicate.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e on the right path,鈥 he said. 鈥淩andy (Leite) and the staff in the college are doing an excellent job.鈥
Eglie was surrounded by family during the ceremony which he called 鈥渒ind of overwhelming.鈥
鈥淲hen I was a student, I never thought anything like this would happen. Patient advocacy is a problem I and members of my family and friends have had and I just wanted to do what I could to correct that problem.鈥
In addition to the Herbert E. Eglie Patient Advocacy Fund, Eglie also previously established the Russel W. and Ida L. Eglie Memorial Scholarship in honor of his parents. To date, 27 students have been recipients of the scholarship.