The Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, has announced a $10 million gift from Linda and Doug Mills to develop an institute dedicated to breast cancer.

The Mills Breast Cancer Institute will bring together in one location clinical services provided by Carle Clinic Association physicians and research conducted in partnership with the University of Illinois. The Mills' gift increases the total raised for the institute to more than $16 million, and will allow the hospital to break ground for the new facility, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008.

Linda and Doug Mills both graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and have lived in Champaign since 1971. Doug Mills is chairman of the board and CEO of First Busey Corporation, a financial holding company headquartered in Urbana. Linda Mills serves on the board of directors for Busey Bank. A breast cancer survivor, she is currently being treated for a recurrence of the disease.

"Linda and Doug are firsthand witnesses to the substantial impact breast cancer can have on an individual and a community," said Dr. James C. Leonard, president and CEO of the Carle Foundation. "We are so honored that they selected Carle and that Carle will have an opportunity to better meet the needs of area women dealing with breast cancer."