THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050275
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
A Virginia Beach woman has given Eastern Virginia Medical School a holiday present worth celebrating - $2 million to create a center for geriatrics.
The gift, one of the largest ever bestowed on the school, is from Virginia Glennan Ferguson, in honor of her father and grandfather, both prominent Hampton Roads newspapermen.
The Glennan Center for Geriatrics will be devoted to helping the elderly through education, clinical care and research.
``I have felt for many years, even before I got to be an old lady, that doctors simply do not understand the differences between older patients and younger patients, both physically and psychologically,'' said Mrs. Ferguson, who is 79.
``The sad thing is, most doctors never realize that until they are retired
Mrs. Ferguson's opinion was influenced by her interactions with elderly patients when she did hospital volunteer work in the 1960s and '70s.
The center will work to ensure that general practice doctors understand the special needs of their elderly patients, school officials said.
``This is a demographic imperative. The older population is doubling in size. . . . Older people represent an entirely unique biological challenge to doctors,'' said Dr. John Franklin, a geriatric specialist with the medical school, in a prepared statement.
The donation is an example of how EVMS, a relatively young medical school, strives to grow: in giant leaps.
This will be at least the third time the school has invested a big chunk of money to create an entire program. The money, along with other donations the initial gift may help attract, will be used to lure experts in the field and to provide whatever the center needs to get off the ground.
It's similar to the way EVMS established The Diabetes Institutes in 1987 and The Center for Pediatric Research, a joint project with Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, in 1992.
The Glennan Center for Geriatrics will honor Michael Glennan, Mrs. Ferguson's grandfather, and Edward Keville Glennan, her father.
Michael Glennan went to work in 1867 for The Virginian, a forerunner of The Virginian-Pilot; he eventually became its owner.
Keville Glennan served as managing editor of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Dispatch, forerunner of The Ledger-Star. In 1903, he was one of the few journalists to recognize and celebrate the importance of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk.
The gift is part of EVMS' ongoing $62 million endowment campaign. Two years into the five-year effort, the school has raised $19.8 million. ILLUSTRATION: Virginia Glennan Ferguson
KEYWORDS: ENDOWMENT BENAFACTOR EVMS by CNB