Louisville, KY… The Kresge Foundation has awarded Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services (JHHS) a $1.5 million challenge grant to aid in the completion of Frazier Rehab Institute’s $88 million capital campaign. As part of the challenge grant, the Jewish Hospital Foundation must raise $9.4 million for Frazier Rehab Institute by June 1, 2005 to receive the $1.5 million grant award.
As of December 2003, The Kresge Foundation has awarded 138 grants in 2003 totaling more than $104 million. The Frazier Rehab Institute grant of $1.5 million is significant because the average Kresge Foundation grant in 2003 was $758,000. Other recipients in the Louisville area include some of the most well-known and well-run charities such as The Center for Women and Families, Bernheim Forest and The Home of the Innocents.
The Kresge Foundation, an independent and private foundation created by the personal gifts of Sebastian Kresge, is well known for its intense scrutiny of grant candidates. The Kresge Foundation reviewed accreditation reports, indigent care charity, strategic planning and fundraising history for JHHS to determine Frazier’s qualifications for the award.
“Since the beginning, this project has maintained great momentum, not only with the physical progress of the construction, but also with the support of this community, the JHHS Board, the Frazier Board and all of their employees,” said Owsley Brown Frazier, honorary co-chair of the Frazier Rehab Institute Steering Committee. “But, it is particularly gratifying to know that an external organization with the reputation of Kresge has declared their support of our efforts to expand services to our community.”
Frazier Rehab Institute serves over 12,000 patients annually. According to JHHS Senior Vice President Joanne Berryman, “Upon completion of the facility in 2005, the facility will expand from five floors to 15, and will include Neuroscience, Cardiopulmonary, Sports Medicine, Pediatrics, Orthopaedics and the Bill Collins Parkinson’s Center. The new facility will boast an average of 27,000 sq. ft. per floor and more private patient suites with private restrooms, allowing patients to receive therapies in a more efficient manner.”
“We are proud to be the recipient of the largest Kresge Foundation health care challenge grant made during the current quarterly cycle,” said Jewish Hospital Foundation Executive Director Keith Inman. “But this is only the first step. We need the entire community’s support to meet the challenge The Kresge Foundation has given us within the next 18 months.”
In August 2003, after 16 months of construction, Frazier announced the completion of Phase One of the project, opening extensions of two floors for interim use. These two floors expanded from 12,381 sq. ft. per floor to 22,049 sq. ft. per floor, nearly doubling the space. Floors three and four house an additional 40 beds, bringing the total number of beds to 135.
Since 1954, Frazier has been setting the standard of excellence in this specialized area of medicine. The 135-bed hospital and its professional staff provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary care to people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, strokes, pulmonary disabilities and much more as inpatients and outpatients. Frazier Rehab Institute offers a wide array of services to the entire community based on its mission of helping people with disabilities get back to their life. Physical Rehabilitation services for Jewish Hospital Health Network are provided through Frazier Rehab Institute, a regional health care system dedicated entirely to rehab medicine.
