Baylor`s ER Drive On a Roll

The Baylor Health Care System Foundation's campaign to help fund expansion of the Baylor University Medical Center's Emergency Department has raised $11,070,000.

The $53 million expansion, scheduled for completion in January, will expand the emergency department to 78,000 square feet and increase Baylor Dallas' capacity to treat patients requiring urgent and trauma care.

The campaign, launched in January 2006 and spearheaded by Bill Miller and Robert Nichols and their committee, includes a $500,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the largest corporate donor to the project.

"The heart and soul of any medical center is its emergency department, and we are extremely grateful to our donors for their support and dedication to this campaign," said Rowland K. Robinson, president of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation.

"All of the citizens of Dallas will benefit from their generous contributions."

The emergency department will be named the Riggs Emergency Department after Dr. Leonard R. Riggs Jr. and his wife, Peggy, who made a significant contribution toward the campaign augmented by a major gift from the Friends of Dr. Leonard Riggs Jr.

Dr. Riggs, who was medical director of emergency medicine at Baylor Dallas from 1974 to 1998, knows firsthand that Baylor needs to expand its emergency department services.

"Baylor is filling a great need in the community with this expansion. The new emergency department will provide the people of North Texas with access to advanced emergency care services and will ease some of the overcrowding issues," Dr. Riggs said.

The department is expected to treat more than 100,000 patients annually.

It will feature:

*An electronic medical records system.

*86 private patient spaces, including four major trauma care beds.

*Disaster preparedness components, including decontamination rooms, a containment room and showers for biological threats.

*More physicians and nursing staff.

"The need for affordable high-level emergency care is increasing at a rapid rate in North Texas," said Laura Whitley, Dallas president of Bank of America.

"Baylor is truly an anchor institution in Dallas-Fort Worth, and the Emergency Department expansion will not only benefit those in need of medical care but will act as a catalyst for economic growth."

Major donors to the emergency department campaign include:

*$1 million and up - Bob and Lola Sanford; Hillcrest Foundation, founded by Mrs. W.W. Caruth Sr.; and Dr. and Mrs. Riggs.

*$500,000 and up - Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle Fund of Southwestern Medical Foundation and Mike Mullen.

*$200,000 and up - EmCare Inc., Hawn Foundation, Trisha Wilson and the Wayne Family Foundation.

Baylor Dallas is one of only three Level I trauma centers in the 21-county North Texas trauma network.

The other two are at Parkland Memorial Hospital and Children's Medical Center Dallas.

For more information about the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, visit www.BaylorHealth.com.