$10.5 million gift to help build pediatric wing, fund professorship
Groundbreaking for the James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital to be in June
A $10.5 million gift announced today will help expand the Children’s Hospital at University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina and fund a professorship in pediatrics at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.
James and Connie Maynard of Raleigh plan to donate $9 million to the new Children’s Hospital addition. A $1.5 million gift will go toward a distinguished professorship in the Department of Pediatrics within the Brody School of Medicine. Maynard is the co-founder and chairman of Investors Management Group, the parent company of Golden Corral Corp.
James and Connie Maynard listen at a press conference Tuesday, May 17, announcing their donation for a children’s hospital addition and distinguished professorship in pediatrics at East Carolina University. Photos by Cliff Hollis
The new facility will be called the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital.
The Maynards are ECU graduates who met at the campus soda shop where Connie Maynard worked.
“Connie and I have been blessed to be able to make this gift, which will benefit children and families of eastern North Carolina. This gift is possible because of the many loyal customers of Golden Corral and the outstanding efforts of Golden Corral associates every day,” Maynard said.
“We can think of nothing more worthwhile than helping East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and Pitt County Memorial Hospital continue to excel in providing world-class care to the people of eastern North Carolina.”
UHS will break ground on phase one of the Children’s Hospital addition in June with an estimated completion in 2013. The addition includes newly designed patient rooms, new equipment and more room for specially trained staff. Designers worked to pen it through the eyes of a child to be patient- and family-friendly.
“This is great news for every parent, grandparent or loved one of a child in our community and region,” said Dave McRae, chief executive officer of University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina. “These families need and deserve a healing environment that is especially focused on the specific treatment of children’s illnesses.”
The $1.5 million gift to the Brody School of Medicine is for the James and Connie Maynard Distinguished Professorship in Pediatrics. It will be designated for the chair of the Department of Pediatrics and will be used for recruiting physicians, continuing education and research.
In addition, ECU will qualify for $667,000 in matching funds from North Carolina’s Distinguished Professorship Endowment Trust Fund, making the endowment $2.167 million when fully funded.
David Brody, chair of the ECU board of trustees, said the contribution will improve care, access to care and recruitment of physicians.
“Your commitment and leadership make a powerful statement,” Brody said to the Maynards.
As chair of the ECU Department of Pediatrics and co-medical director of Children’s Hospital, Dr. Ronald Perkin’s vision has been instrumental in shaping the future of medical care for children in eastern North Carolina.
“Our Children’s Hospital serves the entire eastern third of the state,” Perkin said. “We have a unique opportunity to expand our ChildrenÃs Hospital to embody our philosophy of care, which places children and their families at the center of everything we do. This place will be more than concrete and steel; it will be a place where miracles happen.”
Children’s Hospital serves children and families from 29 eastern North Carolina counties. It also serves as the teaching hospital for the Brody School of Medicine.
James Maynard was an ECU trustee in the 1980s, the formative years of the Brody School of Medicine. “I’m proud of the the Brody School of Medicine, because I travel around the country, and people tell me about the great things going on here,” he said. “Eastern North Carolina has a special place in our hearts.”
An article about Maynard is in the winter 2006 issue of East, the ECU alumni magazine, http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/mktg/east/Winter-2006.cfm.
David Brody, chair of the ECU board of trustees, stands with James and Connie Maynard following the presentation of a $1.5 million gift to ECU and $9 million to University Health Systems.
An artist’s illustration shows the planned James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital.