BOCA RATON, FL – April 20, 2012 – Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation has received a $5 million gift from Barbara and Dick Schmidt and the Schmidt Family Foundation for the Marcus Neuroscience Institute. Scheduled to open in 2014, the Marcus Neuroscience Institute will serve as a state-of-the-art center of care for neurologic and neurosurgical patients and will transform the landscape of clinical capabilities available in the region. The Institute was established with a recently announced gift from Billi and Bernie Marcus and the Marcus Foundation.
The Schmidt gift will be used to help fund the construction of a new 52,000 sq ft addition to the Hospital, which will house the Marcus Neuroscience Institute and be named the Schmidt Family Pavilion. It will contain a 22-bed Neuro Intensive Care and Step-Down unit, two dedicated operating rooms equipped with intraoperative MRI, and the latest technology.
“We believe the Marcus Neuroscience Institute is the most important new development in healthcare in South Florida,” said Dick Schmidt. “It will serve as a destination for expert neurological care from the finest physicians and clinicians coupled with the most advanced technology. The Marcus Neuroscience Institute will transform the lives of many patients suffering from memory and movement disorders, as well as other neurological conditions. We are very excited to be a part of bringing this incredibly important service to Boca Raton Regional Hospital.”
The Schmidt family has a multi-generational legacy of support for Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Dick’s parents, Charles and Dorothy Schmidt, were early contributors to the effort to build the Hospital in the mid-60s. Dick and his wife Barbara and the Schmidt Family Foundation have given several philanthropic gifts to the Lynn Cancer Institute. In addition, Dick Schmidt has just completed his tenure as two-term chairman of the Hospital Board of Trustees.
The Schmidts announced the gift at the Foundation’s Philanthropy Guild Reception, held annually to recognize the Hospital’s most generous donors. During his final remarks as Hospital chairman, Dick Schmidt presented a $5 million check to Jan Savarick, president of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation. He encouraged those in attendance to join him in supporting the Hospital’s services, including the Marcus Neuroscience Institute, the
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Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, the Wold Family Center for Emergency Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute and the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute, housed in the Harvey & Phyllis Sandler Pavilion.
“We are so appreciative of the Schmidt family’s commitment to the Hospital,” said Jan Savarick. “Their leadership and legacy of philanthropy has saved many lives and continues to make a difference for so many in our community and in the region.” Savarick added that philanthropic gifts to the Hospital are used to expand and enhance clinical programs, fund advanced technology, and recruit the finest healthcare professionals.
Recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid reveal that, with an aging population, one of the largest anticipated needs in healthcare will be in the neurosciences, including the treatment of vascular diseases of the brain such as stroke and transient ischemic attack, Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders, Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, epilepsy and malignant and benign brain tumors.
The Marcus Neuroscience Institute’s medical staff will include highly experienced and qualified clinicians in all facets of the neurosciences including neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuro-intensivists, neuro-interventionalists, a neuro-psychologist and a Research Director. Clinical research will be conducted in collaboration with scientists at Florida Atlantic University, especially its Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center. Patients at the Marcus Neuroscience Institute will also benefit from its synergistic relationship with Boca Regional’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute (LCI), offering patients with neurologic malignancies the most advanced radiation and medical oncology therapies available in the Institute’s renowned and award-winning Harvey & Phyllis Sandler Pavilion.