Next year is shaping up to be a busy one for The Breakers, a luxury resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where at least three major medical organizations have moved their annual fundraiser after jumping ship from President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a report from STAT.
Those moving their annual fundraiser from Mar-a-Lago to The Breakers include Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which has held its fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago since 2011; Rye Brook, N.Y.-based Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which has been at Mar-a-Lago since 2012; and Miami-based Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, at Mar-a-Lago since 2015, according to the report.
When STAT asked a spokeswoman from Dana-Farber about the switch, she said "a variety of considerations" went into the decision. However, the Palm Beach Daily News reported the switch was because another healthcare organization, Cleveland Clinic, had already reserved the club for the date they wanted. A Cleveland Clinic spokesperson told STAT they haven't signed an agreement yet, but the medical center will likely host its fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018 for the ninth year in a row.
Both Cleveland Clinic and Dana-Farber faced protests from thousands of physicians, nurses, medical students and researchers ahead of their February 2017 fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago. The protests hit a fever pitch after President Trump signed an executive order to put an indefinite hold on refugee admissions to the U.S. and temporarily blocked immigration and travel from seven countries. The immigration ban affected Cleveland Clinic's own staff — in particular a physician named Suha Abushamma, MD, an internal medicine resident and citizen of Sudan.
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