Ordinary versus Extraordinary Planning around the rebuilding of the United Medical Center in Southeast Washington DC | Part three: the potential for donations around an expanded program

Another reason to take more time and plan the development of a wider range program of health sciences and biotechnology research and industry, anchored around the construction of a new hospital in Southeast Washington, DC is the ability to line up donations to pay towards the estimated $250 million cost of a new hospital as currently planned.

Of course, while way more fundable, the program as outlined in the two entries on "Ordinary versus Extraordinary Planning around the rebuilding of the United Medical Center in Southeast Washington DC"

-- Part One: Rearticulating the system of health and wellness care East of the River
-- Part Two: Creating a graduate health education and biotechnology research initiative on the St. Elizabeths campus
-- Part three: the potential for donations around an expanded program

will be much higher in cost than the current estimate of $248 million to build a 104-bed hospital.

Still there is great opportunity in "naming donations" ("What's in a naming? A lot of money," Crain's Detroit Business), receiving large donations for the construction and other costs of creating a new hospital and new health science schools and research buildings, in return for naming the buildings/schools after the donors.

For example, the Jacobs Family in Buffalo (owner of the Delaware North Companies) donated $30 million to the University of Buffalo for the naming of its medical school.

The Samueli Family gave the University of California Irvine $200 million for the renaming of the College of Health Sciences, incorporating the medical and nursing schools and the planned development of schools pharmacy and public health. Henry Samueli was a founder of the chip technology firm Broadcom and owns the Anaheim Ducks hockey team.  (Earlier they donated $40 million to UCLA for the renaming of the engineering school.)

Sidney and Lois Eskenazi gave $40 million to the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County towards the construction of a new hospital in Indianapolis. The hospital and hospital system has been renamed for the family in recognition of the gift.

Western Michigan University received a $100 million donation toward the creation of its new medical school, which was subsequently renamed the Homer Stryker MD Medical School.

Ferris State University alumnus Phil Hagerman and his wife donated $5 million to the university's College of Pharmacy, which will be renamed to acknowledge the donation.

In 1998, Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation gave $100 million to Cornell's Medical School in NYC, which was renamed. Subsequently, they have donated $500 million in additional gifts for various programs.

In 2009, Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Abraxis BioScience Inc., and his wife, Michele Chan, gave $100 million to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica for the repositioning of the hospital as an active research facility--$35 million went towards expanding and renovating the hospital; $10 million for attracting doctors and scientists; and $55 million was allocated for the creation of science research centers and funding future projects.

Over the past 25 years, the Huntsman Family has given more than $350 million to the University of Utah for cancer research, through the now named Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Etc.

I am not saying it would be easy to do this. As I have written in the past, in DC and the DC region, federal institutions tend to scoop up the donations of major benefactors, or people fund very particular projects here ("At 37 feet tall, Jeff Koons's flower-draped 'Split-Rocker' demands a whole lotta love," Washington Post) or elsewhere where they can get more publicity, and have much greater control over the final project.

But if you start now and begin asking, the likelihood of raising money is much greater than if you don't ask at all.

And while some people would be satisfied with getting their name on an ordinary hospital building, many more potential donors will see the proposed community health programs, creation of medical and other health and science education schools, the development of a biotechnology research initiative, and bioscience high school education and workforce programs as far more interesting and worthy of funding.