The Sealy & Smith Foundation Commits Record Gift to New Jennie Sealy Hospital
When UTMB announced plans to construct a new Jennie Sealy
Hospital, the university received a record pledge of support from
a longtime benefactor and ally. The Sealy & Smith Foundation
has committed $170 million to the project, the largest single gift
ever given to a Texas health institution. Including this grant, the
foundation has given more than $800 million to UTMB during the
philanthropy’s 90-year history.
“The board of The Sealy & Smith Foundation is proud to continue
the Sealy family legacy in health care,” said John Kelso, foundation
president. “This hospital will be a vitally important addition
to the UTMB campus, and we’re pleased to play a role in its
development.”
Once open for patients in 2016, the $438 million Jennie Sealy
Hospital will offer 310 family-centered patient rooms (54 of those
in intensive care), 20 world-class surgical suites and a 28-bed Day
Surgery Center. It will complement the existing John Sealy Hospital,
which itself is in the midst of an extensive renovation.
The Sealy & Smith Foundation was established in 1922 by the
children of John Sealy, a Galveston businessman and civic leader
who bequeathed $50,000 toward “a charitable purpose” following
his death in 1884. His bequest led to construction of the first
John Sealy Hospital in 1890 and, one year later, Texas’ first medical
school, now known as UTMB.