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President Smith called the meeting to order at the Lansing Center. The invocation was presented by Dean Sienko which was followed by the singing of God Bless America.
Guests were introduced and amongst our guests we welcomed five students completing their Rotary experience prior to next week’s student led meeting and a number of guests with connection to our speaker for today.
Diane Sanborn provided the Remembrance Report that the health of the Club is good. President Smith announced that our own Dean Sienko was featured in a national publication as being part of the presentation honoring Lucca, a 12-year-old German shepherd, who served two tours with the U.S. Marine Corps. She successfully completed 400 missions and protected the lives of thousands of troops during her six years of service. She was awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross which is the highest British military decoration awarded for valor.
On behalf of the Centennial History Committee, Julie Pingston presented the chapter from the book related to the Club’s Foundation and giving by Rotarians over the past 100 years. (PS…The book is at the printer!) Pingston highlighted the Foundation was created in 1977-78 as the philanthropic arm of the Club. Lansing Rotarians made the first international donations to the Belgium Children’s Milk Relief Fund and to the American Red Cross. Locally, first donations were given to fixing a dangerous curve in the road for $35, donating black bears to Potter Park Zoo for $75 and to the indigent children’s dental fund. Over the past 100 years, Rotarians have given over $2 million for local and international projects and another $575,000 to RI through the Paul Harris donations for contributions to charitable endeavors totaling over $2.5 million.
This month’s birthday chair Linda Lynch was unable to attend today’s meeting so fellow April birthday member Julie Pingston reported for the April birthdays. Linda’s question was “what annoys us the most?” Linda has done a great job collecting April birthday contributions.
President Lisa reminded Rotarians that Paul Harris month is almost over. To date, over $8,000 in donations have been collected from Lansing Rotarians. Be sure to support the Paul Harris funds this month.
Mark Hooper introduced today’s special music although fellow Rotarian Ed Culberson needed no introduction. Ed plays music by ear and grew up in the south and in church which gave him a strong background in gospel music. He has been a part of a gospel group since high school and at one point played over 80 concerts a year. Ed dazzled us with his vocals and musicality with his two selections.
Our Chair of the Day and Month, Mike Clark, provided a heartfelt introduction to his colleague and friend Thomas Bres, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Sparrow Health Systems. Mike described Tom’s value to Sparrow as getting a first round draft pick when he started in 2008 to becoming a franchise quarterback for the organization.
 Tom reminded us that Sparrow’s service area covers 8 counties but focuses on the tri-county area in mid-Michigan. Sparrow facilities are now in Ionia, St. Johns, Carson City and coming soon to Charlotte.
The healthcare industry faces many changing dynamics including economic climate, budget deficits, political and regulatory factors (ACA), patient demographics and consumerism. The biggest driver is consumerism and discovering what consumers want from their healthcare providers. More people are interested in communicating electronically with their healthcare providers. Consumers also want greater transparency in their care to be able to understand the cost and the value.
To meet these changing needs, Sparrow has invested in facilities to provide easier access to healthcare by creating a retail approach with the facilities. FastCare will be coming soon to Meijer locations in Okemos and DeWitt. The Sparrow Health Center Lansing opening in 2017 will offer primary care, drive through pharmacy, lab, radiology to offer additional access in one location.
In downtown Lansing, the Sparrow Gathering Place will open this summer on the main campus. The cafeteria will relocate from the basement to the first floor. In the summer of 2017, the Sparrow Plaza and Herbert Herman Cancer Center will open to create a more walkable main campus for Sparrow.
Finally, MySparrow allows patients to monitor their medical records and results electronically. Coming soon to the portal will be the capability to track your fitness through mobile phone apps/Fitbits which sync to your My Sparrow records to allow the data to work on wellness issues in advance of health issues that need treatment.
President Smith thanked Tom for his informative presentation and let him know a donation to the Bio Sand Filter project will be made in his name to provide clean water to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Our next meeting will be at the Country Club of Lansing with the Student Led Program featuring MSU Women's Basketball Coach Suzy Merchant. See you then!
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