WHEN CLEVELAND NATIVE CHUCK MINTZ HEARD ABOUT ST. VINCENT CHARITY MEDICAL CENTER’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY, HE KNEW IMMEDIATELY HE WANTED TO HELP CELEBRATE HIS OWN PERSONAL, 30-YEAR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOSPITAL.

“I have a lot of gratitude for the people at St. Vincent. They have not only helped me, but many others, find the ongoing small pleasures from living a healthy lifestyle,” he said.  “I knew I wanted to do something to honor them and what they do,” Mintz said. His journey with St. Vincent Charity began more than 30 years ago, when he worked as an engineering manager for a Cleveland industrial controls company. A group of employees came to him to complain about a co-worker’s drinking problem and how it was affecting his work. 

“Employee issues were much different in those days.  We took the issue to personnel and they gave the employee two options – either agree to go to Rosary Hall or be fired.  Fortunately, he chose Rosary Hall and it was a huge success for him,” Mintz said.

About a year later Mintz, who struggled with a lifelong battle with his weight, saw a St. Vincent Charity ad for its comprehensive weight loss program.  “At first I thought that I was just too busy to participate. Then I thought, when am I NOT going to be too busy?  When I am in a hospital bed because of my weight and it’s too late to do anything about it?”

So at a little over 300 pounds, in 1985 he began the St. Vincent Charity weight loss program, which was the precursor to the hospital’s Center for Bariatric Surgery. Mintz credits the success of his employee’s experience at Rosary Hall for giving him the confidence in St. Vincent Charity to go ahead and make the commitment to find a healthier lifestyle.

While there were many components to the program, he said the key to his success was finding the pieces that worked specifically for him.  He found daily exercise—even when he doesn’t want to do it—to be the key to dropping more than 100 pounds. And he has kept the weight off for the last three decades. 

“Sometimes I hate riding the stationary bike, but I remind myself that I have two choices.  I can either go back to where I was and take my chances with my health or just get on the bike and do it.  I have found that once I do it, I take pleasure in feeling good after exercise.”

David F. Perse, MD, President and CEO of St. Vincent Charity said, “We are grateful for Mr. Mintz’s commitment to St. Vincent Charity.  Hearing his journey, it is clear this is a man that never loses sight of where he came from and those who have impacted him throughout his life.”

In 2008, Mintz left his job as President of Superior Tool, to turn his nearly 40-year hobby as a photographer into a full-time career.  He uses his life’s experiences as inspiration to shape his work.  His project “Every Place” begins with an image of his childhood home that today stands vacant through foreclosure.  The remaining images are of foreclosed homes in every neighborhood he has ever lived.  “The Album Project” features the images taken by his autistic son, Isaac Mintz, for whom he and his wife Pat purchased a Polaroid camera when he was 14. The 2009 project features images captured by Isaac at family events throughout his life.  “The projects are personal,” says Mintz.  “They are things that matter to me.”

Mintz is a member of the Friends of Photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art, a Life Director of Jewish Family Services Association of Cleveland and a life member of the IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional society. He was also awarded the 2015 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. More information about his work can be found at chuckmintz.com.