AURORA, Colo. — The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus announced Tuesday that it has received a $120 million gift from The Anschutz Foundation and its founder and chair, Philip Anschutz.
The gift is the largest commitment in the history of the Anschutz Medical Campus.
The medical campus says in new release that the gift will help "accelerate the campus’s growth and development as one of the newest and most prominent academic medical campuses in the United States, the only one in the Rocky Mountain region, and the largest from Chicago to the West Coast."
This commitment brings The Anschutz Foundation's total investment in the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to nearly $300 million since 2000, according to a news release.
“We are proud partners in the development of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and share an ambitious vision for further elevating it among the country’s top medical destinations,” said Phil Anschutz, in a news release. “The campus stands as a Colorado landmark and a hub of leading-edge research, innovation and education – and, perhaps most importantly, as the place to go for the highest-quality health care delivered by the best minds in medicine.”
In addition to supporting innovative research efforts, industry partnerships, technology transfer and strategic faculty recruitment and retention, the $120 million gift will be used for a new health sciences building.
The university will break ground later this year on the new 390,000-square-foot Anschutz Health Sciences Building.
The new building "will house faculty leaders in mental and behavioral health including the CU Department of Psychiatry, as well as the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, classrooms, exhibit space and more," according to a news release.
“Philip Anschutz and The Anschutz Foundation are helping lead a visionary transformation of health care in Colorado and beyond,” said CU President Bruce D. Benson, in a news release. “This gift, combined with their previous commitments, goes a long way toward ensuring the CU Anschutz Medical Campus is one of the leading medical care, research and education facilities in the world.”
“With this commitment, Mr. Anschutz and the leadership of The Anschutz Foundation are excited to help rapidly transform medicine and health care, not only in Colorado but across the region and beyond,” said Executive Director of The Anschutz Foundation Ted Harms, in a news release. “We have a shared vision for propelling the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus even higher among the best medical campuses in the United States, and by investing in key strategic areas, we will make that vision a reality.”
UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital President and CEO Will Cook says he is hopeful the gift will help recruit and retain top faculty.
“UCHealth and University of Colorado Hospital partner with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to leverage research and innovative treatments like immunotherapy to transform the future of health care," said Cook, in a news release. This historic donation will enable the nationally recognized physicians from the CU School of Medicine to continue inventing the health care treatments of tomorrow, helping deliver the very best outcomes for patients throughout the Rocky Mountain region.”
