April 29, 2009

Mount Zion, Parnassus Auxiliaries to Merge into One

The UCSF hospital auxiliaries at Mount Zion and Parnassus will merge, effective July 1, after operating for more than a century as two separate organizations.

The new UCSF Medical Center Auxiliary will be headed by Catherine Wittenberg, former chief nursing officer of UCSF Medical Center, who retired in 2007. Wittenberg said she believes the new organization will better coordinate activities across many sites, including Mount Zion, Parnassus and Mission Bay, and will become a stronger fundraising entity.

The next big fundraiser is the “Love and Laughter” comedy competition, hosted by the Auxiliary at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion on Saturday, May 2.

The campus community is invited to this event, which will honor Peter R. Carroll, MD, associate dean, UCSF School of Medicine, and chair, UCSF Department of Urology. Carroll is being honored for his UCSF contributions and accomplishments.

“Love and Laughter” will start at 6:30 p.m. on May 2, in the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco. Tickets are $150 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, go here.

Rod Seeger, president of the Hospitals Auxiliary at Parnassus, said the new, single auxiliary is expected to continue the traditions of both, including the Friend to Friend Specialty Shop for cancer patients at Mount Zion and the Special Wishes program at Parnassus.

He said that the boards of the two auxiliaries nominated Wittenberg as president and she agreed to a two-year term. The two boards now are nominating members for a new, 15-member board.

The Auxiliary at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion was founded in 1897 as a volunteer and philanthropic organization to support Mount Zion Hospital, which merged with UCSF in 1990.

The Parnassus auxiliary had its start in 1919 as the Ladies of the Medical Faculty. The auxiliary and Volunteer Services at Parnassus evolved as separate groups in 1960 to help raise funds, support programs for patients and their families, and provide services throughout the medical center.

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