Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital to Oversee Medical Care at BMW Golf Championship
Health System gives back through Evans Scholarship
LAKE FOREST, IL – Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital emergency medicine physicians, nurses and technicians are staffing the medical trailer for professional golfers and spectators who might need non-life-threatening medical attention during the BMW Golf Championship on September 12 – 17 at Conway Farms Country Club in Lake Forest. In addition to providing medical care and being the exclusive healthcare sponsor for the BMW Golf Championship, Lake Forest Hospital has once again participated in the Evans Scholarship Foundation. The scholarship program awards Chicagoland caddies in financial need with a four-year college scholarship.
“We are proud to support the Evans Scholarship Foundation and the great work this organization undertakes in providing caddies the opportunity to achieve their educational goals,” said Thomas J. McAfee, president of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. “Between being the healthcare sponsor of this event and our ongoing support of the Evans Scholarship, we believe it is vital to have a strong partnership with the communities we are so proud to serve.”
This year, 107 students from the greater Chicago area are recipients of this prestigious scholarship and a handful will be taking part in the opening week of the BMW Golf Championship. Mateo Chavez, a second-generation American whose father was born in Cuba and mother in Korea, began caddying when he was 13 years old at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield. His father thought the job would be a good opportunity to build character and help his son accomplish his lifelong goal of getting into a four year, out-of-state college. Just a year prior to starting the caddy job, a family friend mentioned the Evans Scholarship and ever since then, Chavez was driven to earn this scholarship to achieve his educational dream.
“I tried to do my best in everything I pursued,” said Chavez. “I spent four summers caddying very early in the morning, studied relentlessly and was the captain of my swim team as well as participated in choir my last two years of high school.”
In addition to being active in sports and extra-curricular activities at school, Chavez excelled academically earning a 3.6 GPA, honor roll all four years and scoring a 29 on his ACT. All of these qualities embody the scholarship’s four selection criteria—strong caddie record, excellent academics, financial need and outstanding character.
After a rigorous process of applying for the scholarship and being only one of a handful in the Chicagoland area to be selected for the next round of panel interviews, Chavez a few months later received a letter in the mail he had been anxiously awaiting for since the beginning of his high school career.
“It was surreal when I found out the news,” recalls Chavez. “My mom had called me during my swim practice and was crying. I feel so blessed for this special opportunity and couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and friends.”
Chavez is pursuing a computer science degree at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
“I’m definitely exploring the possibility of pursuing a career in computer science and healthcare,” said Chavez. “The world is going so digital with technology so it’s definitely an option.”
Illinois golf fans, community organizations and non-for-profit companies have raised more than $4.3 million towards the Evans Scholars Foundation including all proceeds earned from Conway Farms during the 2013 and 2015 golf championship. Since 2007, the BMW Championship has raised a total of $24.4 million for the Evans Scholars Foundation and has roughly 965 students currently enrolled at universities across the country.