FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2010

$2.5 Million Estate Gift to St. John’s Mercy Foundation

St. John’s Mercy Foundation recently received a gift of more than $2.5 million from the estate of Helene and Robert Hoffmann. In recognition of the gift, St. John’s Mercy will name the pediatric emergency department at St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital, “The Helene and Robert Hoffmann Pediatric Emergency Department.” More than 22,000 children will be seen in the Helene and Robert Hoffmann Pediatric Emergency Department at St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital this year, the only pediatric emergency department in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties with 24 hour coverage by pediatricians and pediatric nursing staff.

“We are grateful for people like the Hoffmanns who include St. John’s Mercy in their estate planning,” said Patty Arnold, president of St. John’s Mercy Foundation. “With their gift we are able to ensure that additional people receive the compassionate care they need.”

The Hoffmanns had been generous donors to St. John’s Mercy Foundation since 2001. Mr. Hoffmann, who worked in the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center maintenance department for more than 15 years, died in 2001 leaving his estate to his wife. In 2002, Mrs. Hoffmann gave a $250,000 gift to St. John’s Mercy to name the entrance of the St. John’s Mercy Child Development Center in her husband’s memory. She chose the Child Development Center because her husband spoke so highly of the department and had a fondness for children; the couple never had children of their own.

In 2009, Mrs. Hoffmann passed away leaving the entire Hoffmann Estate to St. John’s Mercy Foundation in the form of a trust, with a request for a naming opportunity on the St. John’s Mercy Medical Center campus. Fundraising is ongoing for St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital and other naming opportunities are available.

The St. John’s Mercy Foundation is the consistent generator of community support upon which St. John’s Mercy Medical Center relies to make it possible to provide care to all who need it, regardless of ability to pay.

St. John’s Mercy Children’s Hospital is a NACHRI-designated “hospital-within-a-hospital” at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center. St. John's Mercy works with physicians who are specially trained in caring for infants and children in a wide spectrum of pediatric specialties. For more information about St. John's Mercy please click the link: http://www.stjohnsmercychildrenshospital.org.

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