Children's Mercy Kansas City (Missouri) received two gifts totaling $150 million, representing the largest one-time gift donated to a children's hospital for pediatric research, to support the construction of the hospital's new research institute.
The gifts — $75 million from the Hall Family Foundation and $75 million from the Sunderland Foundation — will kick-start construction of the research institute and accelerate the recruitment of top researchers.
The new 375,000-square-foot, nine-story research institute will house nearly six times more space for pediatric research. In addition, once the institute is staffed, the hospital's research enterprise will grow tenfold.
"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," said Randall L. O'Donnell, PhD, President and CEO of Children's Mercy Kansas City.