Hall Family, Sunderland Foundations Donate $150 Million to Children’s Mercy

Children’s Mercy Kansas City announced this morning that the Hall Family and Sunderland foundations had each donated $75 million to strengthen the hospital’s pediatric research programs.

The combined $150 million stands as the largest one-time gift ever made to a children’s hospital for pediatric research, Children’s Mercy said in a release annoncing the gifts. The donations will spur construction of the $200 million Children’s Research Institute’s new home and accelerate the recruitment of top researchers from around the globe.

 “In addition to exceptional clinical care, Children’s Mercy has always placed an emphasis on research and education to transform the future of pediatrics,” said Rand O’Donnell, the hospital’s president and CEO. “Thanks to the unparalleled generosity of the Hall and Sunderland families, our Children’s Research Institute will allow us to accelerate even more precise diagnoses and treatments for complex childhood diseases, so we can provide groundbreaking care for the most difficult medical cases right here in Kansas City and around the globe.”

The new, nine-story research building will cover 375,000 square feet, a six-fold increase in the institute’s current footprint. At full staffing, the hospital’s research enterprise will be 10 times what it is today.

“We have an opportunity to change the lives of children by conducting research that will create more understanding and deliver cures or diagnostics that go beyond the individual patient,” said Tom Curran, chief scientific officer and the institute’s executive director.  “So, in a sense, by treating one child here at Children’s Mercy, we may impact thousands elsewhere. By learning from our patients, particularly those whose needs are not being met by the existing standard of care, we will constantly strive to move medicine forward. We owe it to our children to be the best, and to provide access to the latest science and technology.”