Froedtert Hospital to provide $11.5 million for health-related scholarships

Froedtert Hospital is set to provide $11.5 million for a scholarship program serving underprivileged students studying health-related fields at the Milwaukee Area Technical College and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, per a Thursday statement.

The funding will come through a grant from the Kurtis Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital Trust.

It’s part of an agreement between the trust, Froedtert Hospital and the Wisconsin Department of Justice that’s still subject to approval by Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Eric Conley, Froedtert Health executive vice president and Froedtert Health president, said the gift help help eliminate healthcare disparities and address social determinants of health like education and employment.

“The Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee were chosen for their strong local presence and steadfast commitment to providing educational opportunities to those who live and work in the community,” Conley in a statement. “Equally important was the opportunity each institution offers students who traditionally might not have access to post-secondary education, fundamental to the scholarship program.”

The program aims to expand the pool of healthcare workers in southeast Wisconsin and meet demands of the medical field. Some scholarship funds include a need-based component and some will head to Milwaukee Public Schools graduates.

The settlement comes after a dispute over how trustees were overseeing the estate of Kurtis Froedtert, known as the “Malt King of Milwaukee,” who oversaw a company that supplied malt for most of the city’s breweries from 1915 until his death in 1951.

His will set up a trust to establish and maintain what would become Froedtert Hospital, with the remaining income heading to other charitable, scientific or educational purposes.

Froedtert’s daughter, Mazie Froedtert Willms, alleged in a 2019 court filing that trustees disregarded the other charitable purposes clause of the will. Willms, who died on June 2, 2020, also had a trust established by her father’s will. Its remaining money is heading to the hospital’s trust.

Willms pushed for the Department of Justice’s involvement in the matter, and the state agency has the authority to enforce charitable trust instruments, said Joseph Goode, a partner at Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC, who represented Willms.

Goode described Willms as “impassioned and principled.” He said her family likes the scholarship idea and, if they had been more involved, might have pushed for steering some of the money to other charitable causes.

“But we think it’s great,” Goode said. “Eleven-and-a-half million dollars going to these two wonderful schools, I think the family is fully behind.”

Beyond court approval of the agreement, Goode said the “only lingering issue” is that Willms’ estate and her family have paid almost $600,000 in professional fees and costs. He said they shouldn’t have to pay the price for doing “basically a public good.”

This article first appeared in the Wisconsin Health News daily email newsletter. Sign up for your free trial here.