June 21, 2017

OHSU School of Medicine Alliance members joined physicians, nurses and staff on June 8 to dedicate the Gwynn Brice Dockery Family Lounge in the Doernbecher Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and celebrate the Alliance's largest contribution to OHSU in its 70-year history.

Using a substantial portion of an $82,000 bequest from the estate of Gwynn Brice Dockery, a longtime OHSU School of Medicine administrator and School of Medicine Alliance member, the Alliance worked with OHSU to remodel the family lounge on the 12th floor of OHSU Hospital into a bright, comfortable space for families with babies in the NICU.

"We have more than 700 families a year whose babies stay with us, some as long as three to four months," said Robert Schelonka, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, and head of the Division of Neonatology, OHSU School of Medicine. "We feel it is very important to create a home-like environment for the families by having a comfortable place for them to decompress and rest between visits with their babies."

What had been a functional but not very accommodating space with a noisy vending machine and a small television now has comfortable new furniture, a dining table and work counter, a play area for children and a large-screen television. The project included furnishing an adjacent corridor with supplemental seating. The hospital also contributed to the renovations by repainting the room and updating the carpeting.

Identifying needs and meeting them

The School of Medicine Alliance was founded in 1947 as the Faculty Wives Club. In the 1970s, the largely social organization adopted a service orientation, focusing on medical student financial aid and special projects for the School of Medicine.

In 1985, the group started the Blankets for Babies community service program when members realized that some families were taking their newborns home swaddled in their parents' clothing. Initially, members sewed blankets and clothing items for the layettes. Eventually they also enlisted volunteers at local churches and retirement communities to sew and knit layette items.

Gwynn Dockery, who retired from the School of Medicine in 1978 after 36 years of service, strongly supported the program, now called Blankets and Books for Babies. It provides a full layette of a blanket, clothing and a new book for babies born to needy families at OHSU hospital and "heart pillows" to cardiac patients at Doernbecher.

In recent years, the Alliance also purchased milk warmers for the NICU, which Dr. Schelonka called a godsend in a place where 42 premature infants need feeding every three hours. Over the years the Alliance has sprinkled many acts of kindness throughout the School of Medicine –including furnishing the medical students' on-call sleep rooms and renovating student study spaces.

A gift befitting a legacy of service

Ms. Dockery died in 2014, leaving a generous bequest to the Blankets and Books for Babies program. An Alliance task force took time to determine how to invest the bequest in a way that met her wishes. The group decided to focus on improving the environment for the families of babies in the NICU. The task force worked closely with Shelbe Sundeen and Nicki Wiggins, nurse managers on the OHSU Neonatal Care Team, to identify NICU needs. In addition to refurnishing the family lounge, the alliance purchased much needed developmental supplies for use with the newborns as well as 1,000 receiving blankets to replenish the NICU's well-used supply.

"We are very pleased to honor Gwynn Dockery's legacy of service by supporting families in the NICU with an attractive and comfortable place to rest when they are not at their baby's bedside," said Kay Dawson, chair of the Gwynn Dockery Bequest Task Force. "The NICU Family Lounge is the biggest project we've funded in our 70-year history, and we're so happy to see the project completed and appreciated by the NICU families and staff."

A dozen of Ms. Dockery's family members traveled from as far south as Roseburg to be at the dedication and several family members shared stories of Ms. Dockery's generosity and kindness. Marie Weber, a social worker at OHSU and grandniece of Ms. Dockery, said she got teary-eyed when she heard that the NICU lounge would be remodeled and dedicated in memory of her great aunt. 

"She was such a huge part of our lives," said Ms. Weber. "She birthed no babies of her own but was a mom and grandma to so many."

The OHSU School of Medicine Alliance (SMA) welcomes new members to join in its many social activities and service projects. Information about membership is available at www.ohsu.edu/sma or by contacting Erin Hoover Barnett, director of communications, in the School of Medicine Office of the Dean at hoovere@ohsu.edu or 503-494-9892.

Pictured (top to bottom):

School of Medicine Alliance members who worked on the remodel and naming of the Dockery Family Lounge in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit included, from left, Kay Dawson, Jean Morton, Anne Yoo and Lynette Houghton.

Dr. Robert Schelonka, head of the Division of Neonatology, thanked the Alliance for creating a home-like environment for families with babies in the NICU.

Alliance members and members of Gwynn Brice Dockery's family gather in the refurbished lounge, including Glyn Brice, Ms. Dockery's brother, (sitting, right) who traveled to attend the dedication of the lounge in her memory.