Marin General Hospital Foundation’s 20th annual Golf Tournament and dinner/auction, “A Taste of Tokyo”, held Sept. 19 at the Meadow Club, raised $340,000 to benefit the hospital’s Spine & Brain Institute. The Institute, a unique collaboration between Mt. Tam Spine Center, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Neurosurgery and Marin General Hospital, offers our patients a single point of access to world-class, comprehensive spine and brain care.
“We are grateful for the extraordinary generosity and support of our community. It is truly an endorsement of the efforts we have made to support our new Spine & Brain Institute,” said Jon Friedenberg, president, Marin General Hospital Foundation.
Picture-perfect weather framed the day-long event at the Meadow Club, which included a golf lesson, barbecue brunch, tournament and Japanese-themed dinner for 180 generous participants. Clever riffs on the “Taste of Tokyo” theme included such touches as a “shot gun start” initiated by a gong, and array of Japanese food served by waiters in traditional Japanese attire.
The auction included imaginative one-of-a-kind packages such as a two-day Maserati test drive with overnight stay at Carneros Inn, a tour of the Walt Disney Family Museum and an opportunity to meet Diane Disney Miller, several resort packages and a stay at a luxury, six-bedroom home in Kona Estates, among many other items.
One of the highlights of the evening came when Kim Blackseth, a quadriplegic patient who had been treated by Dr. Brian Su, director of spine surgery at the Spine & Brain Institute, spoke of his experience. Blacketh’s unusual surgery to relieve extreme pain caused by thoracic spine collapse is one that very few community hospitals are able to perform.
Blackseth, who has always maintained an active lifestyle, flying his private plane between a house in Napa, a penthouse apartment in the Bay Area and a vineyard in Paso Robles, said that the pain in his back had begun to override everything else. “I was becoming non-functional,” he said. “We tried everything. Finally, my regular doctor recommended we go see Dr. Su, who was a new doctor of the Spine & Brain Institute.”
Dr. Su seemed very conservative, according to Blackseth. “He said he wouldn’t do surgery on anyone if he did not think it would improve their life by at least 90%,” Blackseth said. “But he had identified a rare type of surgery he thought might work. Because there was no research involving its success in a quadriplegic patient, Dr. Su and his colleagues thoroughly discussed it before they decided it could work.”
The surgery took place over a Thanksgiving weekend. Dr. Su was scheduled to take his fiancé home to meet his parents that weekend for the first time. He cancelled his plans to stay and take care of Blackseth.
“My wife and I will be forever grateful to Brian,” Blackseth said. “He is such an exceptional person. Now, I’m virtually pain-free. It’s just a world of difference. I am back to doing the things that made my life worthwhile.”
Co-chaired for the second year in a row by Marcia Sperling, a San Rafael resident, and San Rafael anesthesiologist Dr. Keith Chamberlin, the event’s major sponsors and donors of auction items for the event included Mrs. Reta Haynes, Union Bank, ACS — a Xerox Company, CEP — Emergency Physicians at MGH, Chamberlin HealthCare Consulting Group, Inc, Anesthesiology Consultants of Marin (ACM), Archer Norris, CAIMA (California Advanced Imaging Medical
Associates), Mt. Tam Orthopedics and Spine Center, and the Marin Independent Journal.
“This event gives everyone—sponsors, donors and all the community members who support the hospital — the opportunity to come together for a day of celebration, fun and fundraising,” said Sperling. “We’re all so proud of what the Marin General Hospital has achieved this past year, and we consider it critical to maintain awareness of the exceptional level of programs and services they offer. We couldn’t be more delighted with the success of this year’s event.”
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