Indian-American couple pledges $200 mn to healthcare
Wednesday, 27/09/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=181283&boxid=65600&uid=&dat=2017-09-27
Florida : An Indian American doctor couple has pledged $200 million to a Florida university to advance healthcare in the state and internationally to the underserved communities in India and Africa. Zambia-born India-educated cardiologist Dr Kiran C Patel and his wife, paediatrician Dr Pallavi Patel announced the single largest donation made by an Indian American individual or family in the US at a press event here Monday. The largest philanthropic gift in the history of Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in the US will significantly expand its programmes in osteopathic medicine and healthcare sciences. The commitment from the Patel Family Foundation includes a $50 million gift and an additional $150 million real estate and facility investment in a future 325,000 square-foot medical education complex in Tampa Bay.
With the Patels’ gift, NSU has renamed two of its colleges as Dr Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and Dr Pallavi Patel College of Healthcare Sciences. “I feel that it is more important than ever to advance the current state of health care,” said Kiran Patel. “This partnership will benefit thousands of patients, students and doctors,” added Dr Pallavi Patel.
“Over the next 20 years, NSU will train thousands of new doctors and other health care professionals who will directly touch millions of lives, making a real difference,” he said. Patel’s gift will provide support for equipment and the hiring of additional faculty and staff in the Tampa Bay area, as well as an endowment to sustain the operation of the college’s new location besides an endowed scholarship fund for students.
Patels’ goal is to be involved in the training and education of generations of physicians and other healthcare providers.
