The Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, has received a $15 million gift from Sarah Michelle Boes and her family in support of the Norton Children’s Congenital Heart Center.

Dedicated in honor of their daughter, Meadow—now two years old—the congenital heart center will enhance the hospital’s ability to deliver cutting-edge cardiac care and pave the way for advancements in treating congenital heart defects. While the Boes family has a long history of anonymous philanthropy within their community, this contribution is their first major public act of giving, and is aimed at securing the future of congenital heart care at Norton Children’s Hospital.

Meadow Boes, the family’s first child, was born with pulmonary atresia, a congenital condition that changes the way blood flows to the lungs and through the heart, and later developed junctional ectopic tachycardia, a type of irregular heartbeat not uncommon for patients with her heart diagnosis. After multiple procedures at Norton in 2022, Meadow continues to heal and has not needed additional surgeries.

“If my daughter Meadow had been born even just 50 years ago with her set of heart defects, she wouldn’t have survived past birth,” said Sarah Boes, a family nurse practitioner. “Supporting innovative cardiac programs like the one they have built at Norton Children’s creates future opportunities at life for more kids like her.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/sturti)