The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation Gives $7 Million to Golisano Children's Hospital
On April 1, 2014, University of Rochester President Joel Seligman announced two extraordinary gifts from The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation (WFCF): a $10 million lead gift to the University’s Institute for Data Science and a $7 million gift to support UR Medicine’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. Together with previous gifts to several programs across the University campuses, today’s announcement brings the WFCF’s total contributions to the University’s comprehensive campaign to $20 million.
“It is our honor to support the University’s campaign,” said Danny Wegman, the Foundation’s president and chairman of the board. “The Institute for Data Science is helping the University and its collaborators become leaders in leveraging information in ways that will transform 21st-century discovery and innovation.
“In a similar way, the new children’s hospital will move health care for our region’s children and their families into a whole new environment designed around children’s needs. What could be more important or gratifying than ensuring the health of our children?”
The Institute for Data Science and the Golisano Children’s Hospital campaign are flagships of the $1.2 billion goal for The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the University of Rochester. The WFCF gift represents the fourth largest contribution to the University’s comprehensive campaign, and the second largest gift to the children’s hospital.
UR Medicine’s new $145 million children’s hospital features 52 private patient rooms, a greatly expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and various spaces designed specifically to meet the needs of children and their families. Some of the new spaces families will be able to enjoy include a healing garden, family lounges, and a hospitality suite where parents can shower, prepare and eat home-cooked meals as a family, or even run a load of laundry.
“The Wegman family has done immeasurable good in Rochester, providing thousands of jobs to its residents, giving scholarships for city children to attend private schools, and helping us all live healthier lives,” said URMC CEO Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. “We are immensely grateful to the Foundation for continuing the legacy of supporting our region’s children through this generous gift to the children’s hospital.”
“The Foundation’s gift brings patient- and family-centered care one step closer to reality for our region’s youngsters,” said Nina F. Schor, M.D., Ph.D., pediatrician-in-chief of Golisano Children’s Hospital and the William H. Eilinger Chair of Pediatrics. “Enhancements to the configuration of patients’ rooms and their increased proximity to charting stations will make it easier to include families in the care process. It also allows us to immerse our doctors-in-training into all aspects of care and develop more skilled providers.”
The new hospital, which is the largest capital project in the University’s history, is slated to open in the summer of 2015. To date, the community and donors, such as The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation and B. Thomas Golisano, have generously supported the hospital construction, giving $45 million of the $60 million that must be raised for the building. Wegman, honorary chair of the Medical Center campaign, hopes this gift inspires others to contribute to close the $15 million fundraising gap needed for the new building.
For more information about this transformational gift and the Institute for Data Science, please click here.