Creighton University

Peter “Rocky” Snawerdt of Melbourne, Fla., knows a good investment when he sees one.

A partner in the venture capital firm Melbourne Partners, Snawerdt is an Omaha native. On a recent trip to his hometown, he learned of the Magis Clinic, an outpatient clinic for homeless and uninsured people conceived and operated by Creighton University School of Medicine students. One visit to the clinic and Snawerdt was impressed.

Melbourne Partners, through its Remember to Share Foundation, made a $10,000 gift and a 10-year pledge of $25,000 each year, for a total commitment of $260,000 to the Magis Clinic.

Snawerdt said the foundation gives primarily to educational or medical initiatives. “The Magis Clinic is unique because it combines both of our priorities. It provides medical services to people who can’t afford care, and it provides education to the medical students who volunteer there.”

The Magis Clinic was begun in 2004 when a group of Creighton medical students found there were few outpatient health care options available to the homeless and uninsured. They sought and received a grant from the Association of American Medical Colleges to establish the clinic. Since then, more than 400 medical students, along with some 75 physician volunteers, have provided care to hundreds of patients per year.

The clinic features free drop-in acute care services, as well as referrals to existing community services, on Saturdays at the Siena/Francis House, which is located near the Creighton campus. In addition, specialty clinics in diabetes, psychiatry and sexually transmitted diseases have been initiated.

Magis Clinic fundraiser Justin Birge, a third-year medical student from Omaha, said he reacted to the Remember to Share gift with “…shock, followed by joy, followed by apprehension, followed by shocked joy. It was great.”

Plans are to expand the clinic from two to four exam rooms, with a laboratory/procedure room, teaching space and more storage, as well as to upgrade lab equipment. “Rocky wanted to be sure we are able to keep up with our equipment needs, especially those that may be large, one-time expenses,” Birge said. “Funds also may be designated to the Magis Clinic endowment, helping to secure the future of the clinic even beyond the next 10 years.”

He added, “A donation of this magnitude to an organization such as the Magis Clinic, which is a very efficient and high-yield perdollar charity, ensures that volunteer students and physicians will continue to serve and improve the health of Omaha’s uninsured and underinsured population more effectively and for years to come.”

Jacob Smeltzer, a third-year medical student from Derby, Kan., has been a Magis Clinic director for more than a year. Smeltzer and the other student-directors oversee the operation of the clinic.

“When I found out about the donation, I was overwhelmed,” Smeltzer said. “It is truly a remarkable gift.”

He said Creighton’s medical school “is full of idealistic students striving to make a difference. For example, signups to volunteer at the clinic usually involve students getting to school one or two hours early to wait in line for a chance to volunteer some of their precious free time, for which they receive no school credit. Donations like this allow them to put their ideals into action.”

Snawerdt said the nature of the gift — spread out over 10 years — will allow the students to learn the additional skill of business planning. “Doctors need experience in how to plan a business because their practices are their businesses. This will give the students insight into long-term planning,” he said.

Snawerdt acknowledges, “I get more satisfaction out of our foundation than the business. There is a sense of doing something good for the world from the foundation, rather than just helping individual clients.”

As the fundraiser for the clinic, Birge said his job is made easier “by the fact that the Magis Clinic is such a needed, educational and inspirational project. We owe a lot to the philanthropy of the Creighton community, the Omaha community and School of Medicine alumni. We have received many private donations and grants, in addition to the funds received through our own fundraising events.” The clinic’s major event is the annual Magis Classic, a golf outing coordinated with the School of Medicine Alumni Weekend, which raised $28,500 in 2006.

The Magis Clinic is one example of how The Campaign for Creighton University supports programs that benefit both Creighton students and people in need. For more information on the Magis Clinic or other Campaign priorities, contact Matt Gerard, director of development for the School of Medicine, at (402) 280-5746, or the Office of Development at (402) 280-2740.

Creighton benefactor Rocky Snawerdt, at right, discusses plans for the Magis Clinic on site with, from left, Creighton medical student Katie Zaluski, School of Medicine Associate Professor Fred Youngblood, M.D., and medical student Justin Birge.