University Hospitals in Cleveland has announced gifts totaling $10.6 million to its Elyria Medical Center from the Hampson Family Foundation and its president, Karen Mole.

The largest gift in the hospital system's history will support the development and expansion of programs that address the healthcare needs of Lorain County residents, as determined by a recently conducted community health needs assessment, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, and will also fund a patient navigator to help ensure that community members receive appropriate follow-up care. Eventually, the Hampson Mole Community Health Project, as the effort is called, will be extended throughout the UH health system and could serve as a national model for improving preventative care and the early detection of a variety of diseases. In addition to the gift from the foundation and Mole, the Elyria Medical Center Foundation will provide $1.5 million in support of the project.

In recognition of the foundation's and Mole's gift, the main pavilion at UH Elyria Medical Center will be named the Hampson Mole Pavilion.

"In today's new era of health care, UH is increasingly reaching out to our community to address root causes of poor health together," said University Hospitals CEO Thomas F. Zenty III. "We're collaborating around innovative ways to keep people healthier and help patients manage complex diseases at home. Philanthropy holds great power to catalyze new healthy-community approaches, and Karen Mole and the Hampson Family Foundation have set an example for the entire nation."