SPRING 2026The MVB AwardDale Lovett’s friend told him Healthnetwork is the “most valuable benefi t” in YPO. After Dale’s experience, he agrees.PAGE 9When More Is Not BetterWhen you have a major medical decision to make, you don’t have extra time and energy to spend evaluating options. PAGE 11“They Saved My Legs”J Phillips couldn’t stand or walk normally. His doctors didn’t seem to think it was urgent, but J sure did! PAGE 3
When Jim told me he was going to nominate me for the award, he gave me a heads-up: “This isn’t just an honor for people to get a lovely evening and be on their way. This is a group of people who believe in the mission and will continue to be involved.” I get that. We do the same thing at Healthnetwork. We help families get the best medical care in their moment of crisis, and we expect they will stick around and be part of our mission to make medicine better for all.I’m looking forward to getting more involved with the Horatio Alger Association and see how I can help. And who knows… some of these students may very well go on to become the leaders in medicine who will care for future generations of Healthnetwork families. ✦EXECUTIVE TEAMWilliam Rowley, Chairman and Founder (Donating Time)Megan Frankel, PresidentGary Boris Jr., Chief Operating OfficerRichard Cartabuke, MD, Medical DirectorBOARD OF ADVISORSWilliam W. Rowley | Chairman and Founder | Chagrin Falls OHWilliam Babcox | Chagrin Falls OHAnthony Busa | Bay Village OHBernardo B. Fernandez Jr., MD | Coral Gables FLWilliam Glubiak | Chagrin Falls OHJosh Guttman | Cincinnati OHBill Krul | Kettering OHPatricia Rowley McCollum | Novelty OHBrock Steere | Akron OHF. William Steere | Akron OHOn the cover: Crystal and J Phillips credit Dr. Mo Bydon at The University of Chicago Medical Center with saving J’s legs.Source for hospital rankings mentioned in this issue: U.S. News & World Report, Best Hospitals Rankings 2025–2026I’m no expert on how to define the American Dream, but at least part of it must include community and helping others. If you can reach a point in your life where you’re not constantly thinking about earning money to make it through, but instead you have the luxury of considering how you can give your time, money, and energy to help others—that seems to me to be the culmination of the dream. And if that’s true, then I’ve achieved it. For 35 years since starting Healthnetwork I’ve watched terminal diagnoses turned around, health restored, lives saved. I’ve watched Healthnetwork members donate hundreds of millions to support medical research. If this isn’t living the dream, I don’t know what is.I received an honor this year. My friend and longtime fellow YPOer Jim Dicke nominated me for a Horatio Alger award. The Horatio Alger Association started after WWII when people were saying the American Dream was dead. The founders wanted to demonstrate that someone who started life in humble circumstances could still go on to achieve great things in America. Today they help students who have overcome adversity with generous scholarships for higher education.The American DreamBILL ROWLEYChairman and FounderHealthnetwork Foundation1 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
Many of you know Bill Rowley in his capacity as the founder and chairman of Healthnetwork Foundation. And some of you know him in the context of YPO and former owner of a successful plastics company. But here’s something most of you don’t know about Bill: He was raised in an Amish community in Middlefield, Ohio, and although his family was not Amish, nearly half his classmates were. Until he started high school, Bill lived a simple, rural lifestyle, including spending a lot of time baling hay.We are celebrating with Bill this spring as he has been honored with the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, which for 79 years has been given to people who have achieved great success despite overcoming adversity or a humble start in life and who demonstrate a commitment to higher education and philanthropy. If you know Bill at all, you know his life and career have been, and still are, characterized by generosity and dedication to helping others. If you ask him about the Opening Doors for FamiliesBill Rowley and Michael Heaney have worked together to expand Healthnetwork access to all members of Ocean Reef Community Association in Key Largo, FL. Read the story of Michael’s daughter on page 14.We are reassured knowing that future generations of our family will benefit from the same Gold Level access and personal connections that have meant so much to us and made a true difference in our lives.ROBIN ZAFIROVSKIFamily Legacy memberaward, he’ll deflect the attention off himself and start talking about what this recognition means for Healthnetwork—how it will lead to opening more doors, deepening relationships, impacting medical research, and expediting access for our families. The Horatio Alger member list includes many remarkable people, like Wayne Gretzky, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, David Abney, and Barbara Barrett. The list has acquired one more remarkable name: Bill Rowley. Bill brings good everywhere he goes, and we know this’ll be no exception. We are proud of him and look forward to seeing how his skill and experience in networking in medicine will expand through this latest well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Bill, from all of us here at Healthnetwork. ✦There’s nothing more rewarding than opening doors for others. I’m fortunate to be aligned with people—Healthnetwork families, YPO friends, and now my fellow Horatio Alger members—who mentor and empower the next generation as they forge their own paths to success and, I hope, discover the joy of giving back.BILL ROWLEYOne Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 2
Phillips opened his eyes and smiled. He loves waking up at the cabin. It’s been in his family for decades. It’s peaceful and surrounded by woods and full of fond memories. J and his wife, Crystal, were there for the Fourth of July weekend and he was looking forward to spending a few days enjoying the outdoors. He stood and stretched—and felt a strange sensation in his neck. “It felt like something in my neck slid to the right,”he recalls. “It didn’t really hurt, just felt weird.” The rest of the weekend he noticed some restriction when he turned his head to the right, but it didn’t hurt and he didn’t think much of it. Within a couple weeks, the sensation got harder for J to ignore—“If someone touched my right arm, even gently, it hurt”—and by the end of July, he was feeling electric pain down his forearm. He was constantly aware of the discomfort but tried to not focus on it. “I figured it would go away eventually. It wasn’t really pain; it was more of an electric sensation, and in my mind that wasn’t as bad. Now I know better.” But then a few months later, while on a walk in his neighborhood, J felt tingling in the soles of his feet. That alarmed him and he made an appointment with his primary care physician. J’s doctor ordered an MRI, which revealed issues in J’s C5-C6 vertebrae—bone spurs and stenosis. He was referred to a neurosurgical group in Chicago. A Scary TimeOver the next month, J followed the physicians’ recommendations and tried to live as normal a life as possible. He tried physical therapy. He took a high-dose anti-inflammatory. His doctors seemed to be taking a wait-and-see approach, and J felt frustrated by this. To him, “They Saved My Legs”the situation seemed more urgent than their attitude towards it. He began to consider the possibility of surgery and started doing some research on his own. “It scared me how quickly things were progressing. Not a day went by that it didn’t get worse. I’d lose my balance and feel like I was going to fall. At work I walked around with my right leg lagging behind. People thought I’d hurt my back, but really it was a lack of motor skills. I would tell my right leg to move and it would take a second or two to react.” One evening J accompanied his wife to a fundraising event hosted in someone’s home. “Everywhere I stood in that house I had to lean up against a wall because otherwise I would have fallen over backwards,” he recalls.J asked to meet with a surgeon and was scheduled two weeks later with a neurosurgeon. “She was just a year out of residency, and that made me nervous,” he says. Then J remembered a resource he’d heard about when he had joined YPO a few years earlier, something that could help make connections to medical specialists. J Phillips and his wife, Crystal, were feeling frustrated that no one seemed to be taking J’s situation seriously—until Dr. Mo Bydon diagnosed him with cervical myelopathy and recommended disc replacement surgery.J3 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
The Gift of a Second Chance“It was a true gift from God to be put in Dr. Bydon’s hands through Healthnetwork,” says J. “The disc replacement was absolutely the right decision.” Since learning how severe the spinal cord compression in his neck was, J is convinced that if he had fallen backwards during one of the times he’d felt unsteady on his feet, he could have been paralyzed or worse. “I’m 46. You don’t expect to have a brush with potentially being paralyzed at this stage of life,” he says. “I don’t know where I’d be now if not for Healthnetwork and Dr. Bydon’s team. I truly believe they saved my legs.”Recently J’s son got his learner’s permit and J took him out for driving practice one weekend. “Where I’d been with my health before, there’s no way I could have done that,” he says. “Now I am able to build these memories. I got a second chance.” ✦Somebody CaresJ reached out to his YPO chapter leader and was immediately put in touch with Stephen Berg, one of Healthnetwork’s medical coordinators. “Stephen took my information A to Z and asked a lot of questions. I was willing to go anywhere, but he told me I happened to have one of the best surgeons for this problem right in my backyard in Chicago. That phone call was the fi rst time I’d felt a sense of empathy through this whole thing. I didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t able to be the dad I wanted to be. I was treated like a number everywhere I went. I was scared to death. Then all of a sudden I speak with Stephen and he cares. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that feeling—somebody cares.” A week later, J found himself in the offi ce of Dr. Mohamad Bydon, head of neurosurgery at UChicago Medicine. He was surprised how fast things moved, and felt tremendous relief to be meeting with people who were treating his case as emergent. When Dr. Bydon looked at J’s MRI, he saw something others had missed: a large disc herniation compressing the spinal cord in the neck. He affi rmed J’s hunch that surgery was the right next step. He also off ered a surgical option that wasn’t given at the other hospital. They had suggested a spinal fusion; Dr. Bydon recommended a cervical disc replacement. J agreed. Again, he was shocked how fast things moved. The surgery was scheduled just a few days later and went as well as anyone could hope for.J and Crystal Phillips take their kids, Piper and Liam, to Disney every spring. It's a tradition that brings back special memories for J of going with his father.Nationally ranked in 13 specialties, including neurosurgeryI’m 46. You don’t expect to have a brush with potentially being paralyzed at this stage of life. I don’t know where I’d be now if not for Healthnetwork and Dr. Bydon’s team. I truly believe they saved my legs.One Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 4
llison Bransfield cupped her two-year-old daughter’s cheeks and gave her button nose a kiss. There it was again, that thing with the eye. Lately Allison had been noticing that Alex’s right eye would sometimes wander a bit. It was especially noticeable when she was face to face with her daughter. It was infrequent and subtle, and for every time Allison saw it, there were more moments when she thought she must be imagining things. She told her husband, John Hjelmstad, about it, and the two of them started paying closer attention. Eventually they were convinced something was going on and they agreed to take Alex to see an ophthalmologist. They took Alex to see a well regarded ophthalmologist in their home city of Seattle. The ophthalmology team ran some basic tests A Little Princess in Glasses on Alex and sent the family home with a prescription for eye glasses and instructions to do patching, meaning they should put a bandage over Alex’s stronger eye to force the weaker eye to navigate the world. It’s not easy to get a two-year-old to wear glasses, and it’s even more challenging to get a two-year-old to wear an eye patch. But Alex was a champ and her parents were dedicated. They managed to keep the glasses on more or less all day and the patch for an hour or two a day. Like many parents, Allison and John are constantly evaluating their parenting decisions. Are we doing the right thing? Are we being too hard on our kids? Too easy? And since one of the best ways they could get Alex to keep the patch on was with the reward of watching a show, they worried about how much TV time was too much.“Some days were better than others,” says John. “We gave ourselves a B grade.”Keep PatchingAfter four months it was time for a follow-up. The ophthalmologist reran the tests and said there were signs of modest improvement. The instructions: “Keep patching.” John left the appointment feeling frustrated. He had been doing research and had questions and ideas he wanted to get an expert’s opinion on. “I wanted feedback. Tell us what to do. Give us more information. But we felt like the doctor was treating us with kid gloves. We would ask about alternative treatments and the response was just, ‘No, you just need to do more patching,’ with sort of this tone of pity like we weren’t quite getting it. The whole experience rubbed us the wrong way.” One day while Allison was talking with her parents, Stephen and Jane Bransfield, she updated them on Alex’s situation and expressed their disappointment with their medical experience so far. Her parents, who have been members of Healthnetwork Foundation for 16 years, suggested that Healthnetwork could assist them in getting a second opinion. Allison and John jumped at the opportunity.AThree-year-old Alex Hjelmstad’s clothing style can best be described as “Princess.”5 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
The Most Magical Medical Conversation“The entire Healthnetwork experience kind of blew my mind,” says John. “We spoke with Grace Powers, who has helped Allison’s parents over the years. She is nothing short of amazing. She took all our information and said she would get back with us. The way our medical system is, I’m used to hearing ‘I’ll get back to you’ and months go by. Grace called us back the next day. She had done research and whittled it down to three options and she gave us the pros and cons of each. We said we would love to meet with Dr. Emily McCourt at Children’s Colorado.” Grace told John to expect a call from Dr. McCourt’s offi ce, which came the very next day. While his daughter’s situation was extremely important to him, John also recognized that it wasn’t urgent or life threatening, and he expected to get an appointment some months down the road. He was shocked when Alex was put on Dr. McCourt’s schedule just 10 days later. “I hung up and said to Allison, ‘Are we in the matrix?’ Everything was so smooth and pleasant, not at all what we’re used to. Those phone calls with Healthnetwork and Children’s Colorado were the most magical medical conversations in my life.”Answers at Last“The experience at Children’s Colorado provided us everything we were looking to get for Alex’s care—and then some!” says John. “The facility is beautiful and all the staff we interacted with were so kind and generous of spirit. They did all the same kind of tests but with more precision, and they repeated the same tests multiple times by diff erent people, all in a way that made it like a game for Alex. It was incredibly comprehensive. Dr. McCourt had a resident and an intern with her and she demonstrated such humility, no ego about anything. That really impressed me. At the end of the appointment she sat down with me for half an hour or more as if she had all the time in the world, and answered all my questions and explained the research. I came away with solid answers to things I’d been wondering about for months—how the condition works, what approaches are less eff ective and why, what alternatives exist, and what the research does and doesn’t say.” The family went home and continued the patching—but this time with a slightly better glasses prescription and most importantly, with more knowledge. Now they knew a ton of research behind patching, when and how long they should do it, and what the long-term goals were. When they went for a follow-up four months later, Alex’s vision showed notable improvement.Sign Us Up!John and Allison went back to Grace at Healthnetwork and told her they wanted to sign up as members. “We’re getting older and our parents are getting older. It’s so good to know if we need a specialist, they’re there. And even if we never need it, their mission is so laudable. They are fi lling in desperately needed gaps in medical research funding. It was a hands-down obvious choice to become donors. I expect we’ll continue for the rest of our lives.” ✦Those phone calls with Healthnetwork and Children’s Colorado were the most magical medical conversations in my life.Ranked in the top best children’s hospitals in the U.S.One Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 6
n recent years we’ve been receiving more requests from Healthnetwork families for mental health resources, and we are so grateful for our friends at Lindner Center of Hope. Their comprehensive diagnostic assessment program is well known, and now with Michael Groat at the helm, their centers of excellence are beginning to get more well-deserved attention. For example, Lindner is doing important research and treatment in bipolar disorder. We already love working with Lindner, as we’ve seen howwell they care for Healthnetwork families, and we expect remarkable things in the future under Dr. Groat’s leadership. Healthnetwork Foundation (HF): What led you into the mental health field? Michael Groat (MG): I’m a clinical psychologist and I started my career in higher education. I was working towards becoming dean of students at a university, and in that role, I routinely intervened with students who were facing mental health challenges. Amid managing those crises, I saw an opportunity to help people not only get through crisis but also move into recovery mode. I wanted to extend my understanding of mental illness and expand my ability to reach more people. So I decided to go on for more training in mental health. That was in the late 90s, and I’ve been working in hospitals and mental health environments ever since. HF: What is happening in the mental health care field that is exciting to you? MG: AI has become an area of major focus and I’m excited to see where it leads. One of the challenges in mental health care has always been to get people access to the care they need at the right time. With AI technology we can quickly scan and review someone’s entire medical history, which otherwise might take hours or days. The implications of what other benefits these technologies may bring are growing and expanding. For example, I have colleagues who are looking at things like heart rate variability and sleep patterns that can help us understand at a new level what is going on for a person. The more we learn, the more we can understand a person and how it all relates to mental health. All of that is extremely exciting to me.HF: What challenges are facing your field right now? MG: The mental health system is fragmented. To get care, a person often must work with various providers and locations. You might have a psychiatrist in one part of town and another unrelated treatment facility in another part of town. Lindner Center is unique in that everything is under one roof. Another challenge is that it’s hard for the average consumer to differentiate quality of care. There are a number of programs that say they Q&A With Michael Groat, PhDIMICHAEL GROAT, PHDPresident and CEO of Lindner Center of Hope in Mason, OhioHEALTHNETWORK SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD PHYSICIAN7 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
do lots of things, but when you start peeling back the layers, you see there are vast diff erences from one place to another. For example, you might see a facility advertise that they off er psychiatry, but patients might have extremely limited access to one doctor who only off ers brief virtual visits. Compare that to Lindner Center where we have multiple full-time physicians on site. One of the reasons I chose to move here from Connecticut is because I see how Lindner Center wants to advance what is possible. Mental health care doesn’t have to look like being in a room with four other people or having 15 minutes of virtual therapy a week. You can have your own room. You can meet every day with a psychiatrist in person. You can eat tasty food.HF: What’s your favorite mistake—something you erred on but now are grateful for because of what it taught you?MG: Leading change, especially when you’re the one introducing the change, is one of the most signifi cant challenges I’ve had to face as a leader. I imagine Healthnetwork families understand this. I’m a collaborative, inclusive person, and in another role prior to coming to Lindner I made the mistake of insuffi ciently planning for the rigors of leading change. I went into a situation thinking if I took my time, engaged in diffi cult conversations, educated others, and treated people with empathy and respect, I could win everyone over and bringthem along. But that was not the case. I learned that true and lasting change is often slow and arduous, and I learned to tolerate more of the messiness of change than I had previously thought possible.HF: What are your biggest strategic focuses right now?MG: My number one strategic priority is our expansion. Not only are we building two new beautiful buildings; this is also a transformational moment in our history. We are working to increase access to care and become the epicenter of mental health for Cincinnati, the state of Ohio, and beyond.I’m also giving attention to building our brand name. I’m incredibly grateful that due to the work of my forebears, Lindner Center of Hope is mentioned in the same sentence with other leading hospitals. What I think is under-appreciated is our centers of excellence. For example, we are doing in-depth work in the areas of bipolar disorder, OCD, and hard-to-treat depression, but that work is not widely known. In the same way certain medical institutions are known for specialty areas, I want Lindner to be known for our areas of expertise.More broadly speaking, we are asking, how do we meet the needs of people now and into the future? When the center opened in 2008 it was a diff erent world. We are now seeing the two primary demographics of people who seek mental health care are ages 18–29 and over 65. Northern Cincinnati is home to some major corporations like Procter & Gamble and GE Aerospace that attract a diverse population of engineers and scientists from other countries, and we want to be a resource for them. We are always asking ourselves: How do we remain relevant and how do we meet the needs of our current population? ✦A leader in diagnosing and treating complex mental health disordersIn the same way certain medical institutions are known for specialty areas, I want Lindner to be known for our areas of expertise.One Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 8
ne hundred pushups, 50 pullups, 100 walking lunges: That was Dale Lovett’s daily routine. Then one day after finishing the push-ups, he stood up and nearly fell over from dizziness. He didn’t think too much of it the first time it happened, but it became the new normal and Dale found he had to stay on his knees for about a minute before standing, or the dizziness would be too much. “I’m not a huge believer in going to medical doctors unless there’s something major going on,” says Dale. So he went to see his naturopath, but she could not find the reason for his dizziness. “It became clear to me that I would have go see a medical doctor for this.” A YPO friend recommended his concierge physician, and Dale set up an appointment. “In that first visit he diagnosed me with a heart issue and rushed me to a cardiologist the next day.” Suddenly, Dale, who has always been healthy and fit and had barely given a thought to medical care for most of his life, could think of nothing else. “When you find out you have a health issue, all of a sudden all your other problems aren’t problems anymore. Your health problem becomes your one and only problem. I was beyond stressed.”Dale sent a message to his YPO forum and immediately heard back from someone. The response caught his attention: Call Healthnetwork. They are probably the most valuable benefit we have in YPO. “That’s a pretty strong message,” says Dale. He wasn’t familiar with Healthnetwork at that point, but he trusted his forum mate and made the call. And the Most Valuable Benefit Award Goes To…Straight to the Top“Healthnetwork had me on a video call within half hour of me reaching out to them,” Dale recalls. “That was impressive.” Dale explained his situation and expressed his desire to see a heart surgeon for a second opinion. By this point Dale had learned he needed to have a heart valve replaced. The cardiologist in his home city had recommended a surgeon, but that would be open heart surgery, and Dale wanted to do some research and investigate other options. “Healthnetwork gave me a list of people and places they recommended for me, and of course I went straight to the top of the list,” says Dale. He flew to Los Angeles to CedarsSinai Medical Center for an appointment with Dr. Alfredo Trento, a renowned cardiac surgeon with expertise in minimally invasive heart procedures. With Dr. Trento, Dale found just what he had hoped for: a world class surgeon and a less invasive surgery. “Instead of cutting open my chest, they went in through the side by my rib cage,” he explains. His recovery time was about two months, in contrast to the expected six months with the more traditional surgery. Dale had joked with his friends that he’d be doing pushups in ICU after the surgery, and so he thought he’d give it a try. “The first day after surgery I got down to try one pushup. No way!” But it didn’t take long. About a week later, Dale could do some pushups. After a month he could do pull-ups again. Today, two years later, Dale says he is healthier than ever. ODale Lovett (far left) enjoys time with his YPO Oregon Gold forum on a trip to Istanbul last year. When Dale needed medical help, one of his forum-mates told him about Healthnetwork, calling it the “most valuable benefit” for YPOers.9 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
“I’ve always been health conscious, but that experience really made me realize how important health is, and I stepped it up. Now I eat probably 90 percent whole foods. I work out an hour, fi ve days a week. I track my food and protein, my steps, everything.”Trust MattersA heart problem is alarming for anyone, but for Dale, with his beliefs in a more natural, holistic approach to health, the experience was way out of his comfort zone. Refl ecting back, he recognizes how valuable it was to have a high level of trust in the people involved. “My trust in YPO resources is where it started, and all my interactions with Healthnetwork raised my level of trust. So by the time I stepped into Cedars-Sinai, I already had a high level of trust. And Dr. Trento is such a competent and straightforward person, I didn’t even question him much because I felt so comfortable that this is where I needed to be. The whole experience was incredible. I could not rate my experience any higher.”The Most Important ThingWhen Dale’s YPO friend fi rst suggested Healthnetwork, he said it was the most valuable benefi t in YPO, which at the time sounded extreme to Dale. “There’s a lot of stuff we have access to through YPO, a lot of valuable benefi ts. You can’t even utilize it all, there’s so much. But your health is probably the most important thing you have. When you need it, you need it now. Looking back, I would agree with him about Healthnetwork being the most valuable benefi t we have in YPO. Dealing with a medical crisis is not your normal world. You don’t have any idea where to go, what to do. So you call Healthnetwork. That’s their world. I can’t rave about it enough.” ✦Your Benefi ts as a Gold SupporterTax ID # 04-304600 | All contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by U.S. tax law.You can check your Gold status through our online portal or by contacting the Healthnetwork team at +1-440-93-030 or [email protected] access to top specialistsExtended access beyond immediate familyExclusive invites to physician webinars High priority medical requests via our exclusive Gold Supporter online portalCustomized advisory reports for overseas travelYour personal medical coordinator for the duration of your requestNationally ranked in 11 specialties, including heart careYour health is probably the most important thing you have. When you need it, you need it now.One Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 10
When More Is Not BetterI stood in the store staring at the row after row of shelving with running shoes, and my eyes started to glaze over. How are there so many choices for such a basic item? Then a helpful employee suggested that if I didn’t see anything I liked, I could look online for more options. More was the last thing I wanted.Our options are limitless in today’s world—which seems like it should be a good thing. But more is not always better, is it? Too many choices are overwhelming, especially when we don’t have the tools or the time to evaluate the quality of our options. My shoe decision was low stakes. But when you have to make a choice about medical care, especially for something serious like heart surgery or cancer treatment … the stakes don’t get any higher than that.If you’re like most people when you face a signifi cant health care decision, you probably reach out to your network of friends and acquaintances for recommendations. You might get dozens or even hundreds of suggestions that way. And maybe that’s helpful. But maybe not. Now you’ve got a list of names and places, but how do you evaluate them? And just because your friend’s mom had a good experience with Dr. So-and-So, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s who you need to see.This is where Healthnetwork can be of tremendous value to you. We are not just a scheduling service, and we’re not just pulling from a generic list of top-rated doctors. We can give you a specifi c recommendation for your specifi c situation. For you, a medical crisis is an anomaly, a detour from your real life. But this is our world. We have decades of experiences helping thousands of members. In many cases, we personally know the physicians we are recommending. When you go through Healthnetwork, you are getting connected with world-class specialists we know and trust. When you are dealing with a major medical issue, you don’t have extra time and energy to waste. Healthnetwork helps you bypass the daunting research phase and move your starting line forward. You get a curated, vetted list of a few excellent options for your situation. Because more choices aren’t always better and access is not about speed alone. It’s knowing where to go for the right care that matters most. ✦MEGAN FRANKELPresidentHealthnetwork Foundation+1 [email protected]
Helping You Find the Right Care, Fast.ExpertiseMultidisciplinary case reviewSecond and third opinionsCutting-edge treatment optionsSupportCoordinated, patient-centered careDedicated medical coordinatorsExperienced patient advocatesAccessWorld-renowned specialists Academic medical centersEven the hardest to schedule specialistsOne Call Starts It All+1 866-968-2467Healthnetwork Foundation connects CEOs and family offi ces with top medical specialists and facilitates funding for medical research.
the prospect of choosing a fertility clinic seemed overwhelming. “I started doing some research but there are just so many fertility clinics in New York City. It was hard to know where to go or how to make a decision. I didn’t know anyone at the time who had gone through IVF, so I didn’t have anyone to ask for recommendations. I had no idea where to go. I was pretty lost.” An Advocate Comes Along When Maddie shared with her parents, Michael and Patty Heaney, what was going on, they immediately thought of Healthnetwork Foundation. “We first learned about this incredible organization six or seven years ago, and we jumped at the chance to be involved,” says Michael. “We didn’t have any needs at the time, but you never know when life’s going to throw you a curve ball and you might need this network of talented doctors.” Now, the curve ball had been thrown—at Michael’s daughter. He reached out to Healthnetwork and Maddie was connected with a medical coordinator who referred her to Dr. Brownridge at Mount Sinai. “The speed of their response is impressive,” says t was a cold January day in Manhattan when Maddie Tullo walked into Dr. Stephanie Brownridge’s office at Mount Sinai for the first time. Another clinic. Another doctor. More unanswered questions. It had only been a week since her second miscarriage, and she was feeling nervous, discouraged, and sad.Plans Gone Awry Maddie and Dominick got married four years ago, and soon afterwards started talking about building a family. They were thrilled when Maddie got pregnant. They were going to have a baby! But the pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and it left Maddie feeling devastated and shocked. “I just didn’t expect that at all. I had no idea there would be any issues.” Maddie and Dominick met with a fertility endocrinologist, and did some testing and genetic counseling. But before they went too far down the fertility treatment path, they decided to try again to conceive naturally. Again, Maddie got pregnant, and this time the pregnancy lasted longer. But once again it ended in miscarriage and left her reeling. “I was feeling all kinds of doubt and fear at that point,” she recalls. “I was starting to wonder, are we ever going to be able to have a child?” Second Opinion, Please Maddie wanted to see a different fertility endocrinologist. Nothing specific had gone wrong with the doctor she was seeing, but she felt frustrated by some questions she hadn’t been able to get answered. And she definitely did not want to repeat the miscarriage experience a third time. However, When Life Throws a Curve Ball Patty and Michael Heaney enjoy some Christmastime snuggles with Cooper, whose middle name, Michael, is in honor of his grandfather.I13 Healthnetwork Foundation | www.healthnetworkfoundation.org
Michael. “Even more impressive is the incredible talent you end up dealing with.” Maddie adds, “When you’re in the infertility trenches, the amount of time you spend just waiting is brutal. To get a recommended vetted doctor in less than a week really meant a lot to us at that time.” A Glimmer of HopeBy the time Maddie walked out of Dr. Brownridge’s offi ce on that cold winter day, there were new emotions brewing. “I left feeling cautiously optimistic, empowered, and hopeful!” she wrote in a journal note on her phone after the appointment.“Dr. Brownridge was so personable and easy to connect with. I was in a bad place then, and she made me feel so supported. She told me, ‘We’re going to fi gure this out. We will get you to have a baby.’ She made me feel hopeful for the fi rst time.” Maddie thought she’d already been through a lot of testing, and she had. But it was nothing compared to Dr. Brownridge’s regiment. “She was so detail oriented. She wanted to test everything before we tried to get pregnant again.” Maddie trusted her new doctor and agreed to everything. Just four months later, in May 2024, Maddie had happy news to share with her parents.It’s a Boy!Maddie will always remember the moment she got the phone call from Dr. Brownridge. “I was at my parents’ beach house and I went upstairs with the phone to the playroom where my nieces and nephews hang out, and I laid down on the fl oor to take the call. She told me I was pregnant! I immediately called Dominick at work, and then I went downstairs and told my parents. I was excited and relieved and so happy, but also still nervous. We knew we had a healthy embryo implanted, but still you never know.” Maddie continued seeing Dr. Brownridge for ten weeks before she “graduated” and was able to just see her regular OB at home. “IVF takes a lot of the surprise out of pregnancy, so we opted to let the doctor decide the gender,” she says. “In August, once we were released from the endocrinologist, we did a little gender reveal party on the beach with our family and that’s when we found out we were having a boy.” GratefulCooper Michael Tullo was born healthy on February 2, 2025. “This is not how I ever would have predicted my family would grow. But I’m grateful. If we didn’t go through everything we went through, we wouldn’t have Cooper today,” says Maddie. “We all love Cooper so much and can’t imagine life without him,” adds Michael. “We feel so incredibly fortunate to have access to Healthnetwork and the talented group of specialists. This was the fi rst big thing our family used Healthnetwork for, and it has changed Maddie and Dominick’s life. It’s a miracle all the way around.” ✦Nationally ranked in 15 specialties, including endocrinology and OB\/GYNMaddie celebrates with nine-month-old Cooper in November 2025 after fi nishing the NYC Marathon to support RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association.One Call Starts It All +1 (866) 968-2467 +1 (440) 893-0830 14
3550 Lander Road, Suite 225Pepper Pike, OH 44124Healthnetwork connects CEOs and family offi ces with top specialists and facilitates funding for medical research.As a Gold Supporter...To renew or verify your Gold statusEmail [email protected] or call +1 866-968-2467.You have an advocate and guide through the complex medical system.SEE PAGE 9 You can call us for your kids and grandkids.SEE PAGES 5 AND 13You can quickly get a life-changing second opinion.SEE PAGE 3