How We're Fulfilling Our Mission

In treatment....in research...in training...technology...and virtually every facet of prevention    and care, the University of Illinois Medical Center stands at the very forefront of the battle against gastrointestinal and liver disease.  Integral to the growth and success of this world-class medical resource is the financial support of the Walter Payton Center Guild. 

With the funding of the Guild, the university has been able to create a first-class organization that has attracted the best and brightest physicians and surgeons from around the world.  The university attracts patients in desperate need of treatment and hope in their fight against gastrointestinal and liver disease.  The Guild has helped fund the acquisition of the latest technology, including a new $400,000 advanced imaging machine for research-- and state-of-the-art robotics that have helped the University of Illinois Robotic Training Laboratory become an internationally renowned resource for the training of surgical residents and surgeons from all over the world.

Support of a new liver center cancer clinic brings together liver physicians, surgeons, radiologists, oncologists and pathologists to provide comprehensive medical services in one location-- and hope for thousands of patients with liver disease.  Guild contributions have helped fund outreach programs to educate and inform at-risk communities, as well as help expand services to patients in Chinatown, Peoria and Rockford.  Established with funds from the Guild and Guild board members Bobbie and Marvin Fink in 2007, the Bobbie and Marvin Fink Family Liver Clinic has seen more than 25,000 patients in its first two years.  The University of Illinois Medical Center also continues to be a leader in life-saving organ transplants, performing 144 of these procedures in 2008 alone.