Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida Announces $20 Million Challenge Gift
Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida has announced a $20 million challenge gift from philanthropist B. Thomas Golisano, founder and chairman of the payroll processor Paychex, for a new facility.
Once fulfilled, the gift — the largest in the hospital's history — will support construction of a new facility that will consolidate into a single location the medical and ancillary specialty services required to treat critically ill or injured children in the five-county region served by the hospital. Scheduled to open in 2016, the hospital will be renamed Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida in recognition of the gift.
The state-of-the-art 128-bed facility will be located on the grounds of HealthPark Medical Center in South Fort Myers. Children's, which is part of the Lee Memorial Health System, currently is located inside the center.
"Children's Hospital, and particularly the neonatal intensive care unit, is often at capacity," said Lee Memorial Health System president Jim Nathan. "Our focus is to care for children as close to home as possible. We are extremely grateful for Mr. Golisano's generosity and trust in our vision and talented caring team. We hope the tremendous generosity of this challenge grant inspires the community to a deeper commitment in helping build America's newest children's hospital."
