Baylor Health Care System Foundation Raises More than $11 Million to Help Fund Expansion of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas Emergency Department

Campaign exceeds goal with $500,000 grant from Bank of America Charitable Foundation

Contact: Ashley Howland, 214-820-7540
Email: ashlehow@baylorhealth.edu

(DALLAS, Oct. 31, 2007)-The Baylor Health Care System Foundation announced today that it has raised more than $11 million to help fund the expansion of the Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas Emergency Department.

The campaign, spearheaded by Bill Miller, Robert Nichols and their committee, kicked off in January 2006. To date, the campaign has raised a total of $11,070,000 for the emergency department expansion. The Bank of America Charitable Foundation capped the campaign with a $500,000 grant, making it 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," says Rowland K. Robinson, president, Baylor Health Care System Foundation. "All of the citizens of Dallas will benefit from their generous contributions."

The new emergency department will be named Riggs Emergency Department after Leonard R. Riggs, Jr., M.D., and his wife Peggy who made a significant contribution towards the campaign in addition to a major gift made by the Friends of Leonard Riggs, Jr., M.D. Riggs served as medical director of emergency medicine at Baylor Dallas from 1974 to 1998 and knows firsthand Baylor's need to expand its emergency department services to better serve the North Texas community.

"We believe in Baylor's mission to serve all people through exemplary healthcare and are honored to contribute to such a wonderful cause," says Dr. Riggs. "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."

The expansion, underway since July 2006 and scheduled for completion in January 2008, will expand the emergency department to 78,000 square-feet and increase Baylor Dallas' capacity to treat patients requiring urgent and trauma care. The expanded emergency department is projected to treat more than 100,000 patients annually as well as improve efficiency and alleviate overcrowding.

In addition, the new department 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;
• and 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, 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. Bank of America is pleased to be able to support this project and the opportunities it will create for our community."

Major donors to the emergency department campaign include:

• Dr. and Mrs. Leonard R. Riggs, Jr.
• Bob and Lola Sanford
• Mike Mullen
• Hillcrest Foundation, founded by Mrs. W.W. Caruth, Sr.
• Karl and Esther Hoblitzelle Fund of Southwestern Medical Foundation
• Bank of America Charitable Foundation
• EmCare, Inc.
• Trisha Wilson
• Wayne Family Foundation
• Hawn Foundation

Baylor Dallas is one of only three Level I trauma centers in the 21-county North Texas trauma network. The other two centers are at Parkland Memorial Hospital and Children's Medical Center.

The Baylor Health Care System Foundation is a separately incorporated not-for-profit organization that raises and manages charitable funds to support Baylor Health Care System's mission of exemplary health care, education, research and community service. Support comes from nearly 9,000 active donors, including individuals, corporations and other foundations. Since 1978, the foundation has distributed $250 million to Baylor Health Care System.