The Kinder Foundation is donating $150 million to help Texas Children's Hospital and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for a new endeavor for a new building in the Texas Medical Center for children with cancer.
The funding will serve as the lead gift for an ambitious, multi-year campaign that seeks to raise $1 billion for the joint pediatric oncology program. Roughly $600 million of the donation will be used to build a new pediatric cancer center on the 6700 block of Main Street.
Kinder Foundation's $150 Million Donation
Hospital officials expect that they will be able to finish construction of the new building in 2030 or 2031. The remaining funds from the donation will then be used to pay for faculty, recruiting, and programming.
MD Anderson president Dr. Peter Pisters said that the $150 million donation from Kinder Foundation is a "transformational gift." He added that the fund would become a catalyst for other generous people in the community to follow in building the greatest and biggest cancer center for children in the world, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The joint pediatric oncology program that benefits from the donation was originally announced in February this year. It teams up two Houston healthcare titans who have been considered leaders in their respective specialties for a long time now.
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The collaboration would help the hospitals work together and share resources, including access to treatments and clinical trials. Texas Children's president and CEO Debra Sukin said that getting an opportunity to work with the top cancer hospital in the nation is exciting.
Sukin added that the funding will help the two hospitals work together to solve one problem, which is eradicating cancer among kids. She said that donation is the largest gift that Texas Children's has received throughout its 70-year history, the Houston Public Media reported.
Supporting Efforts To Fight Cancer in Children
Pisters added that they will have a new company that will be run by a joint operating board that will be made up of an equal number of individuals from Texas Children's Hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The chairman of Kinder Foundation, Rich Kinder, said that their philanthropic efforts focus on supporting transformational projects in Houston. He said that the latest donation exemplifies that particular mission in every way.
He said that they were impressed by the leadership and unwavering commitment shown by both hospitals in pursuing a bold, collaborative model of care. Kinder is hoping that their donation can help contribute to what they believe is a world-renowned center of excellence, as per PR Newswire.
