Saint Mary’s Hospital Foundation will honor the Honorable Neil M. O’Leary, Mayor of the City of Waterbury, as the 2012 Saint Mary’s Hospital Champion. The award is presented at the annual Saint Mary’s Champion Dinner, which this year is on Monday, September 10, 2012, at the CoCo Key Water Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Waterbury.
The Champion award is presented annually to an individual or institution with a history of outstanding service to Saint Mary’s Hospital and Mayor O’Leary’s has a long history of commitment and support of Saint Mary’s Hospital, both professionally and personally.
During his tenure with the Waterbury Police Department, O’Leary fostered a productive partnership with the hospital and worked in close collaboration with hospital caregivers and leadership. As Mayor of the City of Waterbury, he has been an effective advocate for not only Saint Mary’s Hospital but Waterbury Hospital, and healthcare throughout the community.
In 2001, Saint Mary’s Hospital leadership presented then Waterbury Police Captain O’Leary with the Slocum Award, which is named in honor of Saint Mary’s founder, the Right Reverend Monsignor William J. Slocum. O’Leary served on the Saint Mary’s Hospital Foundation’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2007 and has since served as a Corporator of the board. On a personal note, his mother, Margaret (Murphy) O’Leary, was a graduate of the Saint Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing and worked at Saint Mary’s for many years.
The annual Champion Dinner begins with cocktails at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Co-Chairmen for the dinner are Dr. Peter J. Jacoby of Woodbury, Chairman of the Department of Emergency Services at Saint Mary’s Hospital, and M. Catherine Smith of Middlebury, who has served on the boards of many community organizations and as President of the Mattatuck Museum Board of Directors since 2002.
Tickets to the dinner are $100 per person. Proceeds will benefit the Saint Mary’s Hospital Patient Care Fund. For those participating in Saint Mary’s 2012 Golf Classic at the Country Club of Waterbury on Tuesday, September 11, a dinner ticket is included in the tournament fee. To purchase dinner tickets, or to register for Saint Mary’s Champion Golf Classic, please call (203) 709-6391.