Everyone who has experienced lifesaving care at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center is grateful for our caregivers’ expertise, compassion and skill.

One second-generation Lahey patient, Windle (Win) Priem, and his wife Susan came to express their gratitude to physicians through philanthropy—beginning with small gifts that increased over the years. Win and Susan made their most recent gift shortly before Win passed away in August. The gift will forever honor his long-time primary care provider, Winnie Ooi, MD, whose work now focuses on infectious diseases, by establishing the Winnie Ooi Grand Rounds Lecture.

A successful executive, Win first came to Lahey for back surgery while he was living in New York and returned for other specialty treatment, led by his parents’ long history as Lahey patients. Over time, Win and Susan became great friends of the hospital. Win was a member of the Board of Trustees, 2005-2017, and Susan co-founded the Women’s Leadership Council. In addition to his contributions as a business-savvy trustee, Win will be remembered for his generosity of spirit.

Win developed relationships with his doctors and always looked for ways to support them and their specialties. “When you have a serious disease, or your partner does, you grow closer to your doctors through a lot of time spent together, and your respect grows for them and the hospital as a whole,” Susan said. “We started making small gifts, and over time made larger gifts, supporting different doctors’ work—in cardiology, hematology, oncology, nursing education, and more.” The Priems’ estate plan also includes a bequest that will support Lahey.

Susan proudly attended the inaugural Winnie Ooi Grand Rounds Lecture, which took place virtually and was focused on Hansen’s Disease (leprosy), in which Lahey is a leader. “We decided to use the Priems’ gift to bring in a visiting lecturer in infectious diseases every year to educate our residents and fellows, and other physicians,” Ooi said. Asked if she could say one more thing to Win, Ooi quickly replied, “Thank you, Win—for your friendship and for your generosity that lives on.”

Make a gift to honor your caregiver or in Win’s memory. Visit us online for more information on planned giving, or contact Patricia Newton by email or by calling 781-744-3333.