University Hospitals recently received two gifts totaling more than $3 million from donors with Akron-area ties to support the Cleveland-based health system.
Joy and Thomas Murdough Jr. of Hudson gave UH $1.25 million to establish a Master Clinician award.
Dr. Conor P. Delaney, vice chairman of the Department of Surgery and chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery, is the first recipient of the award, which honors and supports a physician-scientist’s contributions to practice. The award will support clinical research by the recipients.
Thomas Murdough, founder and former chief executive of Step2 in Streetsboro, is chairman of the UH Ahuja Medical Center board of directors.
The Murdoughs co-chair the UH Digestive Health and Surgical Innovation Leadership Council. They previously donated $5 million to the hospital to establish the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis.
Linda and Les Vinney recently donated $2 million to UH Case Medical Center for the Biorepository and Genomics Facility, which will be named in their honor.
The biorepository will allow UH physician researchers to collect and study tissue samples, a critical step for cancer research, according to a news release.
Linda Vinney is a retired genetic counselor who held positions at Akron Children’s Hospital and Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey.
Les Vinney is retired president and chief executive of Steris Corp. and a former senior vice president and chief financial officer at Goodrich Corp. He serves on the UH board of directors, along with other boards in the region.
Buchtel Community Day
Akron General Health System is joining with the Buchtel Neighborhood Group to hold the fourth annual Community Day on Saturday at Hawkins Park at Stoner Street and South Hawkins Avenue in Akron.
Activities start at 9 a.m. with a community walk, followed by Community Day festivities from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The event will include a job fair, free healthy food, live entertainment, soccer games for children and appearances by elected officials.
Akron General also will provide free health information, including men’s and women’s health folders to track exams and preventive care; information about free classes to stop smoking; and brochures on high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, weight control and the benefits of exercise.
For information, contact the Buchtel Neighborhood Group at 330-329-4784.
Secondhand smoke risk
Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes have a 50 percent increased chance of having neurobehavioral disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities, a study released this week says.
About 5.5 million U.S. children live in households where someone smokes, according to a study released in Pediatrics, the professional journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Researchers from the Tobacco Free Research Institute in Ireland and the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that boys, children ages 9 to 11 and those living in poverty were at greater risk, according to the study.
“The findings of the study, which are associational and not necessarily causal, underscore the health burden of childhood neurobehavioral disorders that may be attributable to SHS [secondhand smoke],” the researchers concluded.
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
