$75-million facility designed to promote collaboration, discovery and innovation in medical education and research
The Sarasota Memorial Health Care System has unveiled the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute, hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 23 “and giving physicians, staff and philanthropists a sneak peek inside the new, 82,000-square-foot hub for medical and clinical innovation,” Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) staff has announced.
The $75-million, five-story facility on Sarasota Memorial’s Sarasota campus “brings the health system’s growing research, clinical education and residency programs together under one roof and provides a collaborative learning environment for physicians, nurses and other clinical specialists studying new treatments and mastering the latest tools and techniques in patient care,” a news release explains.
“Over the years, Sarasota Memorial has become a magnet for highly trained physicians and clinicians bringing the best their specialties have to offer to expand and enhance care in our region,” Sarasota Memorial Health Care System CEO David Verinder said in the release. “We are excited to dedicate this state-of-the-art facility to medical advances and innovative treatment options that will benefit our community today and for generations to come.”
Located at 1880 Arlington St., “the Institute is named after local philanthropists Jerry and Karen Kolschowsky,” whose $25-million gift to the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation “was the catalyst for its construction,” the release notes. “The donation was the latest in a series of generous gifts” that the Kolschowskys and their family foundation have made over the years “to help SMH expand research and education opportunities at the local level,” the release adds.
“You don’t always understand how important clinical research and advanced therapies are until they save your life, or the life of someone you love,” said Tim Kolschowsky, president of the Gerald A. and Karen A. Kolschowsky Foundation, in the release. He was “referring to his mother’s diagnosis of late-stage ovarian cancer in 2008 and successful treatment” by Dr. James Fiorica, “a highly trained gynecological oncologist who brought the latest treatments and research in women’s cancer to SMH,” the release explains.
While the family’s initial donations helped support Fiorica’s research and women’s cancer care initiatives, the release continues, “the Kolschowskys expanded their focus over the years to support additional medical specialties and clinical education, which in turn has helped SMH attract more physicians and specialists bringing leading-edge research and treatments to the Suncoast region. Indeed, the health system’s research and graduate medical education programs have more than tripled in size in recent years,” with more than 140 active studies underway and thousands of physicians competing for residency and fellowship opportunities at SMH each year, the release points out.
“I can’t overstate what the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute brings to Sarasota Memorial and our community,” said Fiorica, who serves as SMH’s chief medical officer, in the release. “It creates a sense of place, a center for innovation, inspiration and discovery where physicians, researchers and clinical educators are excited to come and work. The collaboration, compound learning and benefits to patient care will be huge.”
“By lending their name to the building,” the Kolschowskys have inspired other philanthropists to step forward in support of the Institute, Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation President Stacey Corley said in the release.
“Their gift was the catalyst for bringing the new Kolschowsky Institute to life,” Corley pointed out in the release. “This new hub for innovation, education and medical research attracted many other supporters, and demonstrates how critical the community and philanthropy are to ensuring we remain at the forefront of medical excellence.”
Along with serving as the new home for Sarasota Memorial’s research team, the release continues, the Kolschowsky Institute provides operational and educational space for SMH’s clinical educators and Florida State University/Sarasota Memorial-sponsored graduate medical education faculty, physician residents and fellows. “Each floor features innovative learning spaces, including advanced medical simulations labs, classrooms, a 360-degree immersive training room, enhanced medical library and multi-purpose auditorium. Providing seating for up to 400 people, the first-floor auditorium will be used for research conferences, clinical and community education events and Sarasota County Public Hospital Board meetings,” the release adds.