Piedmont Healthcare has received a $75 million donation from The Marcus Foundation to support the growth of its nationally-recognized heart institute.
The gift, the largest that the Atlanta-based healthcare system has ever received, will also help build the Piedmont Heart Institute’s infrastructure through the establishment of the Marcus Health and Vascular Center.
This is also the second largest gift ever made to a community hospital in the nation, according to Piedmont.
“We’re beyond grateful, we’re just ecstatic,” said Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare.
The donation builds on a 2012 gift of $20 million from the Marcus Foundation to start the valve program - a comprehensive valve center for care, training and research regardless of the valve in which the damage occurs or the reason for it.
Piedmont sees about 200,000 patients annual for heart-and valve-related issues.
The hope is, said Brown, that the heart and valve program will continue to serve Georgians and expand its reach around the country.
The $75 million will go a long way to reaching Piedmont’s goal of $150 million for the vision of expanding its campus and advancing services to meet the growing demand for clinical services in heart, transplant, cancer, orthopedic and women’s health programs.”Our goal is that nobody in Georgia should have to leave the state for heart and vascular care,” said Brown.
The Marcus Heart and Vascular Center will offer comprehensive care experience for heart patients, with dedicated space for heart-related procedures and hospital stays, as well as enhanced patient support and navigation services. It will also aid the program’s ability to participate in and lead cardiovascular research studies, and share its work with other national experts in cardiovascular care.
"We are happy to participate with Piedmont in this exciting endeavor that will bring the best of cardiac care to the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia," Bernie Marcus, chairman of The Marcus Foundation, said in a statement. "The new facility will enable Piedmont to achieve goals that would have only remained dreams at the present location. I look forward to the positive impact these changes will have on the future health of this great community.
Heart disease remains one of the leading killers in the United States.
Nearly 801,000 people in the nation died from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in 2013, according to the American Heart Association. That’s about one of every three deaths in the United States.
The $75 million Marcus gift will help kick off a larger capital campaign to support Piedmont’s plans to renew its Atlanta campus and advance its services to meet the community’s growing demand for top clinical services like Piedmont’s heart, transplant, cancer, orthopedic and women’s health programs.
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