How women’s volunteer work and fundraising have long supported hospitals
Fact checked by Shannon Sparks
Most hospitals rely on a fundraising board with an unassuming name that does powerful work: the Women’s Board. The title may sound quaint, but it masks generations of influence, energy, and financial impact.
At Rush University Medical Center, Woman’s Board President Kate Peterson understands where the misconception comes from. Outsiders sometimes picture volunteers as upper-class women holding checkbooks — a stereotype far removed from reality.
That reality at Rush dates to 1884, when women were largely excluded from medicine and business. Determined to contribute, groups of women across the country organized to support their local hospitals, including in Chicago at what was then called Presbyterian Hospital on the city’s West Side. They raised funds, mobilized volunteers, and established a formal philanthropic structure.
In 1892, women formed a similar board at St. Luke’s Hospital. When Presbyterian and St. Luke’s merged to create what would become Rush in 1956, the boards joined three years later.
Over nearly 150 years, the Rush Woman’s Board has raised more than $50 million. In 2024 alone, it contributed $500,000 to The Woman’s Board Endowed Fund for Research and Clinical Trials at Rush. The board has funded:
• More than 40 grants
• Medications and clinical supplies for more than 10,000 patient interactions
• Full physicals for 86 children who had never been vaccinated or seen a physician
• 500 backpacks filled with school supplies
• Lunch-and-Learn sessions for high school students covering health, nutrition, and college readiness.
In 2022, its principal project was The Woman’s Board Fund for Excellence in Cellular Therapy, which supported cancer therapy studies that collected a person’s own immune cells and reengineered them in the laboratory to target tumors more precisely.
Like many women’s boards, Rush members oversee hospital shops. Proceeds from three on-campus shops create a steady stream of funding.
Part of a broader tradition
Rush isn’t the only hospital with a dedicated women’s board. The Woman’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, founded in 1897 as the Passavant Woman’s Aid Society, has organized large-scale fundraising events and directed millions of dollars toward patient care, research, education, and community programs.
The University of Chicago Women’s Board, established in 1960, strengthens connections between its members and the university’s research, academic, and outreach missions. Members participate in intellectual programming and fund competitive grants that support faculty research, student life, arts and culture, and community engagement. Over the past 15 years, the board has raised about $10 million to support scientific, medical, academic, and cultural initiatives.
“Volunteer work is vital to our economy, our social safety net, and our big institutions,” says Barbara Risman, PhD, a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago. “And yet it is very devalued.”
At Rush, leaders say that is not the case. In the board’s 2024 Impact Report, Rush President and CEO Omar Lateef, DO, praised its members: “Time and again, The Woman’s Board is always first in line to help. Their unwavering commitment to Rush drives advancement across our classrooms, laboratories, and exam and operating rooms, and in our communities…. Together, we are creating a healthier, more vibrant future for all.”
Rush’s board has more than 200 lifetime members ranging in age from their 30s to their 90s. They live in Chicago and the suburbs. Some maintain professional careers. Others are retired, raising families, or navigating empty nests. Their volunteer hours shift with life’s stages.
Peterson’s experience reflects that rhythm. Her mother, now 81, belonged to the board first and continues to serve. Peterson trained as an architect before stepping away to raise her children. Today, she says, leading the board is a lot of work and a tremendous privilege.
She attends various committee and trustee meetings, learning hospital operations along the way. She also visits programs that the board supports, including Rush Day School — a therapeutic school that provides education for children with autism spectrum disorders and those with emotional disabilities. Another program provides education and healthcare support to pregnant high school students.
As part of a military family, Peterson is particularly interested in the Road Home Program at Rush, which offers mental health and wellness services to veterans and their families. She recalls a display of masks created by veterans as a therapeutic artistic exercise to reflect their emotions during military service. Listening to their stories, she says, left a lasting impression.
Women’s board members also benefit from the work. Risman says that volunteering strengthens both institutions and the people who serve them. “Volunteering is not only important for society, but it often gives value and meaning to the volunteers’ lives,” she says.
Once sidelined from medicine and business, women built their own path to influence. Today, that legacy continues to shape the hospitals their communities depend on.
