Record-Breaking $93M Raised By Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation
The Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation raised more than $93 million through its “Leading with Care” cancer campaign to support the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute at the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.
The campaign is the largest in the foundation’s 48-year history, according to a news release.
About 10 years ago, SMH decided to elevate cancer care in Southwest Florida after a study found that about 50 percent of cancer patients were leaving the community for treatment, the foundation said.
It launched a cancer fundraising campaign in 2017 with a goal of raising $50 million in five years.
In 2020, a $25 million gift was made by the Brian and Sheila Jellison Family Foundation, paving the way for the construction of the cancer institute.
“The Jellisons’ generosity fast-tracked the creation of the cancer institute and inspired even more support from the community,” Stacey Corley, foundation president, said. “With so much momentum, the campaign goal was increased to $75 million.”
Susan Milman, a long-time supporter who has donated more than $21 million to SMH to date, helped the foundation reach the campaign’s $93 million mark. Her recent $16 million gift will support the third phase in the evolution of the Jellison Cancer Institute, an outpatient cancer pavilion currently under construction and slated to open in late 2025, the foundation said.
The building will house an expanded breast health center — called the Milman-Kover Cancer Pavilion in honor of the donor’s family — with the latest diagnostic imaging technology, outpatient surgery, brachytherapy, radiation oncology and infusion, and more.
“Philanthropic support has played a vitally important role in the development of the Jellison Cancer Institute and the many expanded programs and services essential to providing comprehensive cancer care,” David Verinder, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System CEO, said.
In addition to the new Milman Kover Cancer Pavilion, the Jellison Cancer Institute also includes a radiation oncology center and a new inpatient and surgical oncology tower that opened in 2020 and 2021.
Source: Patch.com
For more information contact us:
