Couple Gives $2.1 Million to Child Psychiatry Clinic

Margaret and Douglas Colbeth and Joseph Flaherty, M.D. (right), pose with a plaque honoring the Colbeths for their support of a new child psychiatry clinic at the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. The Colbeths had given the university an unrestricted gift of $2.1 million for the clinic, which has been named in their honor. The plaque was unveiled last month at the clinic’s dedication by Flaherty, head of the department of psychiatry, and Gerald Moss, M.D., dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Douglas Colbeth said that he and his wife would continue their efforts to “erase the stigma of mental illness” and pledged to help lobby Congress for laws to ensure that psychiatric medications and mental health services are covered by insurance companies. Research to be performed in the clinic includes investigating methods for the early detection and treatment of psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder and the neurophysiological basis for these diseases.▪