$25M gift prompts University pediatric hospital name change

Doctors at the University of Minnesotas childrens hospital traded in their white coats for ones embroidered with a new name.

With its $25 million donation, the Minnesota Masonic Charities became the Universitys largest donor, and in honor of the gift, the campuss pediatric hospital was renamed Tuesday as the University of Minnesota Masonic Childrens Hospital.

The donation will primarily go toward finding cures and treatments for childhood diseases, said Eric Neetenbeek, Minnesota Masonic Charities president and CEO.

The gift will specifically enhance patient and family experiences, as well as advance pediatric research on neurobehavioral development, rare and infectious disease, and stem cell therapy.

Dr. Joseph Neglia, the hospitals physician-in-chief, said he hopes the gift will create stronger relationships with pediatrics researchers across the University.

Really, to build new bridges is one big part of what Id like us to do, Neglia said. These gifts are vitally important for the hospital.

With the donation, Neglia said he also hopes to expand the hospitals existing research, like its work on correcting genetic defects in human cells and its pediatric medicine international programs in Kenya and Uganda.

Neetenbeek said the Masons donations, which total $125 million over the last 60 years, have been essential at a time when new health care research struggles to receive competitive funding from larger organizations like the National Institutes of Health.

There arent too many venture capitalists willing to go with untried businesses [and] ideas, he said. The same is true when youre looking at research into health care problems.

In the near future, the Masons will meet physicians at the childrens hospital to discuss which promising research projects to allocate the money toward, Neetenbeek said.

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$25M gift prompts University pediatric hospital name change