INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River Medical Center has received $24 million in combined gifts meant to support the hospital’s plan for Excellence in Cancer Care. The announcement was made during a special event Friday.
Bill and Marlynn Scully and Pat and Carol Welsh, the donors who have committed these funds, have been close personal friends and enthusiastic supporters of the medical center for years. With these landmark gifts, Indian River Medical Center will establish the Scully-Welsh Cancer Center, an affiliate of Duke Medicine.
The Scullys shared that their family has been touched multiple times by cancer, most recently with the loss of Mr. Scully’s brother John in September 2012. As they learned about the plan for cancer care at IRMC, they considered the urgency of getting this new program up and running as quickly as possible.
Their decision to invest $12 million, then matched by Pat and Carol Welsh, allows the timetable for every aspect of the program to be moved forward.
With these gifts the Campaign for Excellence in Cancer Care has exceeded the $30 million mark, the original campaign goal.
“Carol and I are pleased to invest in the addition of vital clinical services to meet the healthcare needs of this unique community,” Pat Welsh said. “We are very happy with the progress that we’ve seen at IRMC in the past 10 years and glad to contribute when we can make a difference. It is our strong hope that others will join us by investing in IRMC as it continually raises the bar in patient care.”
Bill Scully agreed.
“Marlynn and I are very impressed with IRMC’s strategy for cancer care excellence and want to see the enhancements for the existing program in place as quickly as possible,” Scully said. “While every aspect of the program is critical for the care of cancer patients and their families, we are most excited to know that our support will attract the best and the brightest in clinical talent and will allow patients in our community to have access to thousands of clinical trials right here in Vero Beach.”
Hospital officials called the gifts “monumental” and “truly transformational for the medical center.”
“The Scullys and the Welshes are wonderful people and we have benefited tremendously from their support of the medical center in the past,” said IRMC President and CEO Jeffrey Susi. “These amazing new gifts will catapult the cancer program forward, greatly shortening the timeframe for development, and allow the community to benefit from expanded services much sooner than anticipated.”
The Scully and Welsh gifts, along with those committed to the campaign since it was kicked off in November 2012, enable Indian River Medical Center to move forward with its plan. The funding allows for the immediate design and construction of a new facility on the IRMC campus dedicated to the care of cancer patients, including treatments such as radiation oncology and chemotherapy.
It will also house the IRMC cancer care coordination team and serve other needs of patients and their families via a patient resource library, a multimedia conference center, a location for support groups and a healing garden. These gifts additionally provide for major advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment technology and support an array of start up costs for the expanded cancer program.
Construction of the new Scully-Welsh Cancer Center at IRMC is expected to begin in 2014.
The Scullys and the Welshes have asked Indian River Medical Center Foundation to use their gifts to encourage others to invest in the Excellence in Cancer Care program. Foundation Chairman Rogers and Chairman-Elect Woodruff have, in turn, committed to the donors that their generosity will accomplish just that.
A new campaign goal of $48 million would allow for a dramatic expansion of the original plan for clinical trials, benefiting patients for whom standard protocols are no longer effective; renovation of the oncology inpatient unit at Indian River Medical Center; and enhancements to other diagnostic and treatment capabilities.
“The Scullys and the Welshes inspire all of us to think differently about the potential for our cancer program as well as Indian River Medical Center as a whole,” Foundation Chairman Rogers said. “They are astute investors and compassionate in their philanthropy. Our whole community benefits from this kind of transformational thinking.”
Chairman-Elect Woodruff agreed.
“I have known the Welshes and the Scullys for a very long time and am deeply touched by their incredible show of support,” he said. “Thanks to them and others who have been so very generous, we are blessed to have an exceptional hospital for a community of this size. Philanthropy is what makes this possible.