Future Physicians Will Benefit From Single Largest Gift In History of Providence Milaukie Hospital

A record-setting $1.5 million gift will help train physicians of the future at Providence Milwaukie Hospital.

The donor, Elsie Franz Finley, said the gift also honors her late brother, longtime Providence supporter Robert W. Franz.

The Providence Milwaukie gift is the largest in the facility’s history, and will be used to create The Robert W. Franz and Elsie Franz Finley Endowed Chair for Family Medicine Residency.

“The endowed chair will ensure sustained excellence in family medicine education and patient-centered care in our residency program,” said Glenn S. Rodriguez, M.D., Providence Milwaukie Foundation Board Member and past medical director, Family Medicine Residency Program.

“I came to Providence Milwaukie Hospital in 1997 to help build this program because of Providence’s strong Mission to provide health care to the local community and the need for more primary care physicians,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “Elsie’s gift will translate into more young physicians being trained to serve the needs of the poor and vulnerable in our community.”

The Providence Oregon Family Medicine Residency program routinely receives more than 500 applications and interviews more than 100 students each year for the nine available resident positions.

“Robert Franz and Elsie Franz Finley have shown their support for Providence Milwaukie for more than 40 years,” said Lesley Townsend, Providence Milwaukie Foundation. “They lived in Milwaukie and had their banking business in downtown Milwaukie. All of us are appreciative and grateful to see their names and history continue on in the naming of the family medicine residency at Providence Milwaukie in their honor.”

A total of 21 residents are in the multi-year program designed to train family physicians to be the cornerstone of patient-centered, socially responsible and community-oriented medical care. The program’s unique curriculum includes a rotation at the Hood River campus where residents learn leading-edge inpatient, intensive care and obstetrical training in a rural setting.

The program began in 2001, with the first class graduating in 2004. Since its inception, the program has trained more than 100 family medicine specialists. That’s nearly 25 percent of all family physicians prepared in Oregon over that time period. Nearly 80 percent of the graduates remain in Oregon to practice.