TMA Foundation SOLUTIONS Newsletter Spring 2020

With a busy life, it’s not always easy to think about this question, no less act on it. Fortunately, TMA, TMA Alliance (TMAA) and TMA Foundation (TMAF) provide many opportunities to make a difference in a way that is most meaningful to each of us.

I’ve found great meaning in my volunteer work for the TMAF-funded Walk with a Doc Texas program where I host a monthly walk with my patients and community members. But you don’t have to necessarily volunteer to make a difference. Supporting the truly transformational work that TMAF Foundation makes possible not only will help you make a difference, but will:

• connect you to Texans who benefit from and need your support to learn healthy habits and lead healthier lives and
• include you in a growing group of physicians and their families, companies and foundations who also care about improving the health of Texans in their community.

In this New Year and start of a new decade, please join me and thousands of TMA and TMAA members in finding what making a difference means to you through TMA Foundation!

Yours in good health,

Susan M. Pike, MD
President, TMA Foundation 

Two not-for-profit clinics received a 2020 TMAF John P. McGovern Champion of Health Award. The first-place recipient is Health For All Inc. of Bryan, led by Executive Director Elizabeth N. Dickey. Health For All provides low-income, uninsured community members with free basic medical care.

The secondary award went to the Cornerstone Assistance Network Cataract Procedure Center of Fort Worth, led by Executive Director Mike Doyle. Cornerstone, or “CAN,” provides free cataract procedures to low-income, medically uninsured Texans, helping them maintain their independence.

The awards recognize exceptional projects that address urgent public health threats and extends TMAF’s mission to help physicians create a healthier future for all Texans. The first-place recipient receives $7,500, and the second-place honoree receives $3,000. The funds help sustain or enhance the winning programs.

The foundation now has a new and compelling way to honor top donors and leaders through a digital display on the first floor of the TMA building. Together with TMA, TMA Alliance, TMA Insurance Trust, and the Texas Medical Liability Trust, the display tells a powerful story of how leadership has led to great achievements for medicine and Texans.

“I think any TMA or alliance member who sees the display will feel an enormous sense of pride in what we accomplish for physicians and our patients by working together,” said Deborah A. Fuller, MD, Dallas, co-chair, TMAF Development Committee.

The display recognizes Major Donors (individuals who have cumulatively donated $10,000 or more), founding donors to the Endowment for Innovation Campaign and TMAF presidents and board members.

Thanks to nearly $1.8 donated in 2019, as well as program funds and endowments, TMAF grants are supporting 30 initiatives that will impact the health of Texans around the state this year.

Among the 13 new programs are volunteer-led efforts to provide free exams and screening for breast cancer, teach and train Texans addicted to tobacco how to break the habit, engage elementary school children in a healthy minds, healthy bodies curriculum and more.

All programs funded by TMAF are developed and carried out by TMA and TMAA members in collaboration with community organizations that share the passion to improve the health of all Texans.

An estimated $1,753,000 was raised in 2019, 120 percent more than the goal. This was possible thanks to 1,327 individual and 70 institutional donors. Approximately 75 percent of 2019 gifts were restricted to support a program or fund. The remainder of gifts were unrestricted, meaning the Foundation can use these gifts for any program and for operations (this is similar to 2018 results and a trend we’ve been monitoring). Please consider making an unrestricted gift to TMAF in 2020 to ensure any gaps in program funding and operational capacity can be met. Thank you!