Oct. 15, 2001 – The Partners for Health, a volunteer group that has long provided financial support to St. Thomas medical services, is holding a major fundraising event Saturday at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort.
The event starts with an hour of cocktails at 6:30 p.m., then dinner at 8 p.m. with ceremonies, followed by dancing to the music of The Starlites band. Tickets at $100 are available at the Partners for Health office, 776-8311 x2281, or from the group's members.
Not only will this raise funds, said Thomas Gutshall, president of Partners for Health, "it will allow us to honor several people in our community." Honorees include local physician Dr. Ruth Watson, "for continued service and dedication to the people of the Virgin Islands," and four cancer survivors: Rose Connor, Maria Griffin, Barbara Kenny, and Vincent Lettsome.
Keynote speaker is Dr. Bert Petersen, Jr., oncology specialist, and attending physician at Beth Israel Medical Center and professor of surgery at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, both in New York City. A Virgin Islander, Dr. Petersen has been in the forefront of planning for comprehensive local cancer care for many years.
Over the past 23 years the Partners for Health has purchased more than $2 million in medical equipment, which was donated to schools and hospitals. Their last major fundraiser was held in 1997. All of this year's proceeds will go toward the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Center at Roy Lester Schneider Hospital.
The V.I. Public Finance Authority recently announced the expected closing of a bond deal backed by the territory's projected future share in the nationwide class-action suit settlement with tobacco companies. Authority director Amadeo Francis expects more than $6 million in bond proceeds, coming through the national Tobacco Settlement Finance Corporation, should be in hospital administrators' hands by mid-November, which means ground can be broken soon for the center.
