May 6, 2014

 

St. Charles Foundation receives $1.8 million legacy gift from the estate of John Picchetti

 

BEND, Oregon – A $1.8 million unrestricted bequest from the estate of John D. Picchetti will support excellence in health care for Central Oregonians. 

 

The Board of Directors of St. Charles Foundation designated $1 million from this gift to create the John D. Picchetti Endowment for Heart Services. St. Charles Heart Services provides innovative cardiovascular medicine and patient care to improve cardiovascular health in the region, including receiving the American Heart Association’s prestigious Heart Failure Gold Award for reducing readmission rates.

 

“Establishing the Picchetti Endowment is an incredibly significant milestone in our fight against heart disease,” said Lisa Dobey, executive director of St. Charles Foundation. “My hope is that this endowment will grow and St. Charles will continue to lead the way in heart health. What a wonderful legacy John left. We are honored to have John’s name attached to our work.”

 

The remaining funds will join with donations from hundreds of other Central Oregonians to create the new integrated cancer center. With this gift, the campaign has raised more than $5 million toward the $5.7 million goal. The new cancer center will enhance patient-centered care coordination, improve accessibility, provide leading-edge treatments and offer personalized patient support for patients facing the challenging diagnosis of cancer. In honor of this gift, the Foundation has elected to name a portion of the cancer center the, “Picchetti Family Radiation Oncology Wing.”

 

“While the gift was unrestricted, we thought about our relationship with John and decided to honor him by investing in the two programs he was most passionate about – heart services and cancer,” Dobey said. “We are extraordinarily grateful to John Picchetti for his vision and generous support. His transformational gift will forever link the name John Picchetti to excellence in health care. That is his legacy not just to St. Charles, but to everyone in Central Oregon whose life is touched by cardiovascular disease or cancer.”

 

John Picchetti lived a full life. After a long and successful career as an investment advisor, he fueled his interests in geography and anthropology by traveling the world. With each trip, he gained lifelong friends and learned new facts of trivia – which he loved to use to stump others. Picchetti will be remembered as an honest, fair and caring man who lived life to its fullest.

 

“My hope is that John’s gift will inspire others in the community to invest in the future of health care by leaving a gift to St. Charles in their will,” Dobey said.

 

About St. Charles Foundation

As the philanthropic arm of St. Charles Health System, the Foundation works to support and improve health care in Central and Eastern Oregon. Private donations raised by the Foundation allow St. Charles to build new medical facilities, purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment, keep pace with the latest technological advances and deliver exceptional patient care in a healing environment. The Foundation does more than just raise money for bricks and mortar. The organization also raises money to support many programs that benefit low-income and uninsured patients.