Toby and Leon Cooperman Make Transformative $25 Million Gift to Boca Regional's Keeping the The Promise Capital Campaign

Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation has received another transformative donation towards their $250 million fund raising effort, Keeping the Promise…The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Noted philanthropists Toby and Leon Cooperman have made a $25 million gift, one of seven eight-figure gifts received by the campaign that has already raised $152 million toward its goal. In recognition of their generosity, the new Medical Arts Pavilion at Boca Raton Regional Hospital will bear the Toby and Leon Cooperman name.

“There are few words to characterize the gratitude we feel at the hospital and in the community toward the Cooperman’s selfless generosity,” said Lincoln Mendez, new President and CEO of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Baptist Health South Florida. “It is a remarkable, historical gift that, to us, is more than the financial resources it provides. It’s an expression of belief, an affirmation, and a trust in what we are doing at Boca Regional, our enormous campus initiative, and our future under the Baptist Health umbrella. It’s a gift that will greatly enhance vital care for our patients and everyone in this community. It represents an impact way beyond the signature on the check.”

The gift was officially announced at a December 3 event at the prestigious St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton. More than 300 gathered to celebrate the donors and the donation, led by friends and neighbors of the benefactors and a litany of Boca Raton Regional Hospital leaders.

“We have referenced many times the Talmud, where it is proclaimed that a man’s net worth is measured not by what he earns but rather what he gives away,” said Mr. Cooperman. “We are committed to give and to help others as best we can. The people of our community here in Boca Raton deserve the best possible healthcare available, and we are honored to join many others who have carefully considered the long-term vision and believe in a bright healthcare future here.”

The Coopermans are noted and enduring philanthropists who have made extraordinary gifts to multiple organizations. They are signers of the Giving Pledge, initiated by Warren Buffett — one of the world's wealthiest individuals — in "an effort to help address society's most pressing problems by inviting the world's wealthiest individuals and families to commit to giving more than half of their wealth to philanthropy." Toby and Leon Cooperman intend to give all their wealth away, to those organizations, institutions and individuals that have made a difference to them in their lifetime. These have included Hunter College in New York City, Columbia University, and St. Barnabas Medical Center. They have also launched the Cooperman College Scholars Program and the Cooperman Family Fund for a Jewish Future. Leon was recently inducted into the prestigious Horatio Alger Society for having overcome his humble beginnings to achieve success on Wall Street and for his commitment to philanthropy.

“Toby and Leon make their gifts for all the right reasons,” said Christine E. Lynn, Chair, Boca Raton Regional Hospital Corporate Board of Trustees, Hospital Board of Trustees. “We are eternally grateful for this extraordinary gesture of generosity. It will have an enormous impact on the care we provide, and their commitment will live on in the Medical Arts Pavilion that will bear their name for generations to come.”

The $250 million Keeping the Promise… The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the largest in the Hospital’s history. In addition to the Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion, a freestanding building on the Boca Regional campus for outpatient surgery and specialty practices, the campaign is supporting plans to re-imagine the campus, shaping the future of an unprecedented, world-class medical sophistication BRRH envisions. The project includes construction of the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower, an expansion of the critically acclaimed Marcus Neuroscience Institute and Christine E. Lynn Cardiovascular Institute, new operating rooms, renovation of the existing facility to create an all private patient room environment, and the soon to be opened Schmidt Family Parking Facility.

“Toby and Leon know the value of philanthropy better than most,” said Stanley Barry, Chairman Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees. “Their gift helps bring us to within $98 million of an ambitious capital campaign goal. We know it will inspire others to join us in this effort, as our other donors have accomplished. The debt of gratitude is without peer.”