Doctor makes $100,000 donation to NCH Foundation to help uninsured
Dr. Peter Geittmann, who delivered more than 5,000 babies during his 35-year career at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, presented $100,000 to the hospital foundation Wednesday.
While Geittmann retired from medicine 18 months ago, he still wants to aid those less fortunate. Working with his wife, Margaret, he established the Dr. Peter Geittmann Foundation. The couple holds a gala and solicits corporate sponsors and individual donors to raise funds.
Last year, the couple donated $100,000 to the Northwest Community Hospital Foundation for a mother/baby clinic. This year's donation is to help underinsured mothers and babies who suffer catastrophic events.
Geittmann said Wednesday that the impetus for the donation was a female patient he saw in the emergency room who had severe advanced pelvic cancer. While he was speaking to the woman's family, her teenage daughter asked if chemotherapy was expensive.
He saw how destitute they were and how financially devastating the treatment was going to be for them. He subsequently saw other patients in similarly challenging situations.
"I've always wished I could do something to help those people," Geittmann said. "So starting this foundation has enabled us to do that, and not only with cancer patients, but more so with women who need prenatal care.
"It's a way to help moms and kids who are underprivileged and underinsured," he said.
While the couple is moving to Florida, Margaret Geittmann said they plan to continue their foundation's work. For more information on the foundation, go to drpetergeittmann.org.