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People scoffed when Lee Memorial Health System executives started talking about raising $100 million in 2010 for a new children's hospital.
After all, this was soon after the financial crisis and the housing collapse that hit the Fort Myers area especially hard. “People thought we were absolutely nuts,” says Tracy Connelly Sr., senior director of major gifts for Lee Memorial Health System Foundation.
But so far, the foundation has raised $67 million, and it may reach the $100 million mark by the time construction crews start breaking ground on the new hospital in August.
Last year, the foundation received a $20 million commitment from Naples resident Tom Golisano, the founder and chairman of Paychex. Golisano will match any gift up to $20 million, dollar-for-dollar.
“Last week, we received another $5 million commitment,” Connelly says without naming the donor.
The new children's hospital, which will be named after Golisano, will cost $201 million to build. Fundraising will account for half of the cost, and the hospital will finance the rest by selling bonds.
The children's hospital will consist of a seven-story building at the Lee Memorial HealthPark campus in Fort Myers and will have room for as many as 160 beds. It is scheduled to open in late summer 2016.
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