VCU’s Heart Center receives $5 million gift
Will be renamed Pauley Heart Center
Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
(804) 828-6057
pdlepley@vcu.edu
1/3/2006
RICHMOND, Va. (Jan.
3, 2006) -- The Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center today
announced a $5 million commitment to its heart center from the Pauley
Family Foundation. In recognition of the gift, medical center officials
said they will seek authorization from the VCU Board of Visitors to
rename it the Pauley Heart Center.
“We are incredibly
fortunate to have such generous philanthropists in our community like
Stanley and Dorothy Pauley,” said Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., VCU president
and president and chair of the VCU Health System. “The Pauley Heart
Center will be a very visible and lasting legacy, and I am confident
that many people with cardiac disease will benefit from their gift.”
The heart center at
the VCU Medical Center is recognized as a national leader in the arena
of developing and implementing cardiovascular procedures. The center
includes subspecialty areas in acute chest pain management, general and
invasive cardiology, heart failure and transplantation,
electrophysiology and cardiac surgery.
“This generous gift
from the Pauley Family Foundation means so much to the research and
educational programs in cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Sheldon M.
Retchin, CEO of the VCU Health System and vice president for VCU Health
Sciences.
Stanley Pauley, who
was treated at the heart center, said he was impressed with the
dedication and care for people shown by the entire staff.
“They are doing a
great job in making a difference in peoples’ lives,” Pauley said. “Their
technical prowess is exceptional and the intention of the gift is to
extend their capabilities by expanding the staff and providing
sufficient assets to keep up with rapidly changing technology needed to
treat heart diseases.”
Pauley, chair and CEO
of Carpenter Company, is a long-time supporter of Virginia Commonwealth
University, serving as trustee of the School of Engineering Foundation
and as a member of the VCU Founder’s Society.
“As the Pauley Heart
Center, we are among only a handful of named major academic heart
centers across the country,” said Dr. George W. Vetrovec, chairman of
cardiology at the VCU School of Medicine. “The additional funding will
propel forward our mission of excellence in patient care, innovative
research and comprehensive education, as well as help us attract
exceptional cardiology trainees and faculty. For all of this we are
exceedingly grateful and proud.”
The heart center’s
Next Generation Campaign has reached $7.75 million with the Pauley
Family Foundation’s gift.
“The support we have
received is fantastic,” said Jim Sanderlin, campaign chair. “That we are
this far along toward our goal of $10 million is a tribute to our
supportive community and to the lifesaving services the heart center
provides.”
- About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 32,000 students in 211 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-nine of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
