Contact: Jessica Salazar
Phone: (816) 346-1346
Email: jmsalazar@cmh.edu
As a giant step forward toward its vision for the future, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics has announced a $43 million pledge from the Hall Family Foundation for the first phase of the Children's Mercy 15-year expansion plan.
The gift is the largest single gift Children's Mercy has received in its 110-year history and one of the largest ever to a children's hospital anywhere.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to provide this support to Children's Mercy and to partner with them to further enhance the quality of pediatric care provided to the children and families of our region," says Bill Hall, president of the Hall Family Foundation.
"We are so fortunate to have a children's hospital of this caliber so close to home. We are proud to be able to help Children's Mercy continue its mission of caring for all children."
Children's Mercy recently announced a plan to more than double its physical size on Hospital Hill and increase the number of its inpatient beds by 50 percent. Phase 1, which will begin soon, includes an expanded emergency room, two more operating rooms, two new heart catheterization labs and a second MRI. An 8-story building atop a parking garage at the north edge of the hospital property at 23rd and Gillham Road will be one of the most striking parts of the expansion.
Long range plans include four more operating rooms, a new 400-car parking garage and energy center, new buildings for patient beds, education, clinics, community use and doctors' offices, expansion at Children's Mercy South and the development of Children's Mercy East.
"The gift from the Hall Family Foundation continues its tradition of leading the way to a brighter future for our children," says Randall L. O'Donnell, PhD, president and CEO of Children's Mercy. "This puts us one step closer to making this expansion a reality and it will help us continue to offer children now and in the future our special brand of care."
Brad Leech, vice president for Resource Development at Children's Mercy, said the gift serves as one of the lead gifts as Children's Mercy eases into the early phases of a comprehensive campaign.
"This is a wonderful gift from the Hall Family Foundation and it will have an impact on children for years to come," Leech says.
The pledge continues a history of giving to Children's Mercy by the Hall Family Foundation, established with funds from Hallmark founder Joyce C. Hall. The money has been used for, among other things, buildings, research and programs to provide family support.
Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is one of the country's premiere free-standing independent pediatric medical centers with 314 licensed beds, more than 40 pediatric subspecialty clinics, a Level IIIc intensive care nursery and the only Level I pediatric trauma center between St. Louis and Denver. The medical staff of more than 400 pediatric subspecialists is one of the largest in the country and is actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research, and educating the next generation of pediatric specialists.
Learn more about Children's Mercy's expansion plans.