Dr. William Reed and his wife Mary have donated $1 million toward completion of an addition to The University of Kansas Hospital, KU announced on Friday.
Reed is chairman of the hospital’s cardiovascular diseases department and helped re-establish its heart transplant program in 2012 with a $1.5 million donation. The addition, the Cambridge North Tower, is under construction just northeast of the hospital complex in Kansas City, Kan.
When completed in 2017, the 92-bed, eight-story facility will include 12 operating rooms and house two of the hospital’s fastest growing specialties, neurosciences and surgical oncology, KU said in a news release.
So far the hospital has raised $38.6 million of the $100 million it hopes to receive from private philanthropic sources. The entire project was estimated last year to cost $279 million.
Civic leader Annette Bloch announced a $10 million challenge grant in November. Including the Reeds’ contribution, KU said it had raised nearly $5.84 million toward the challenge.
The building will also include imaging and lab facilities as well as a pharmacy.
Reed, 87, and his wife donated $1 million toward construction of the hospital’s cardiovascular surgery center, which is named after them, in 2003. He recently wrote a book, “The Pulse of Hope: A Surgeon’s Memoirs from Poverty to Prosperity.”
Dan Margolies, editor of the Heartland Health Monitor team, is based at KCUR.
