The Marcus Foundation awards Grady Health System $30 million for Emergency Department and Stroke Center expansion

ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Marcus Foundation has awarded Grady Health System $30 million to help fund the expansion of the Grady Emergency Department and The Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center. $20 million will go towards the construction of Grady's new $76 million Emergency Center. $10 million will be used to renovate existing hospital space to establish a multi-disciplinary outpatient center, expanding the scope of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center.

"This incredibly generous gift brings the Marcus Foundation's total investment in Grady to $50 million since 2009. The state-of-the-art Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center and the Marcus Trauma Center have saved thousands of lives. This new funding will allow Grady to enhance its role as the state's leading provider of emergency care and make our outpatient neurology services among the best in the nation," said Grady President and CEO John Haupert.

"Our continued support is a testament to our firm belief that Grady is essential to the health and well-being of not just Atlanta and the metro area, but the entire state of Georgia. By helping to create and expand its nationally and internationally renowned emergency and stroke services, The Marcus Foundation is making an investment that we believe will make Grady the national standard of emergency care," said Bernie Marcus, Marcus Foundation Chairman.

"We are extremely grateful to The Marcus Foundation for their generosity and their confidence in Grady's future.  Their investments in Grady have been instrumental to our transformation and serves as an endorsement of Grady's enormous and unique value to our community," said A.D. "Pete" Correll, chairman of the Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation Board of Directors.

By designing and building a facility that demonstrates world-class care, Grady and its partners at the Emory and Morehouse schools of medicine strengthen their ability to competitively recruit and retain the best and brightest physicians, researchers and medical staff. With a state-of-the-art emergency center that facilitates innovation and supports rapid assessment and triage, Grady has the potential to become a national model for emergency care.

Work on the Emergency Department expansion and redesign began in March 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2016. The Marcus Foundation gift will be combined with $50 million in other philanthropic donations to fund the project. A start date has not been set for the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center expansion.

About Grady Health System

Grady Health System is one of the largest safety net health systems in the United States. Grady consists of the 953-bed Grady Memorial Hospital, six neighborhood health centers, Crestview Health & Rehabilitation Center, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, which is operated as a Children's affiliate.

With its nationally acclaimed emergency medical services, Grady has the premier level I trauma center in the Metro Atlanta region and serves as the 911 ambulance provider for the city of Atlanta. Grady's American Burn Association/American College of Surgeons verified Burn Center is one of only two in the state. And the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center is a Joint Commission designated Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Other key services include Georgia's first Cancer Center for Excellence, The Avon Breast Health Center, the Georgia Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, and the Ponce de Leon Center - one of the top three HIV/AIDS outpatient clinics in the country. Grady's Regional Perinatal Center with its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Primary Care Center and the Rape Crisis Center are also notable components of the health system. The state's only Poison Center is housed at Grady as well.

In 2014 Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine again named Grady one of the country's Most Wired health systems. Grady's Heart Failure Clinic received the 2013 Gage Award for Improving Quality from America's Essential Hospitals.

SOURCE Grady Health System