Greenwich Billionaire Donates $20 Million Create Cohen Children's Institute at Stamford Hospital

From Stamford Hospital.

The Stamford Hospital Foundation announced Thursday that the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation has donated a total of $20 million to create the Cohen Children’s Institute at Stamford Hospital.

The Cohen Children’s Institute will offer unparalleled pediatric healthcare to children in our region through a collaboration of highly trained pediatric experts. The Institute will incorporate all current and future pediatric services at Stamford Hospital, including the Cohen Children’s Specialty Center located at Stamford Hospital’s Tully Health Center; as well as a fully integrated, pediatric inpatient unit to be created in the Hospital’s Whittingham Pavilion following the opening of the new Stamford Hospital in 2016.

The new Hospital will also house the Cohen Pediatric Emergency Services Center and trauma program, the first dedicated pediatric emergency center of its kind in Fairfield County.

“Steven and I are happy to support the continued expansion of pediatric services at Stamford Hospital and to help create state-of-the-art facilities needed to care for our community’s children,” said Alex Cohen, wife of the billionaire hedge fund founder whose SAC Capital is based in Stamford. “We want families in our region to know that they can get access to top-quality medical care right here in Stamford, no matter what their financial status.”

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation has been a longtime supporter of Stamford Hospital, helping provide both inpatient pediatric care as well as access to top-tier pediatric specialists.

“This most recent gift from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation reinforces our long-standing relationship with Alex and Steve as they continue their exemplary support for children across the country and right here in our communities,” said Brian Grissler, President and CEO of Stamford Hospital. “They have been such strong supporters of Stamford Hospital since 2004, and this generous donation represents not only the largest gift for the Hospital’s current capital fundraising campaign – it is the largest in the Hospital’s history.”

This latest gift will also support the Hospital’s mission to educate and advance the breadth and depth of expertise in our regional pediatric care, today and well into the future.

“This generous gift will enable the Hospital to provide a world-class, comprehensive patient-centered healing environment, as well as advanced emergency, trauma, surgical and non-urgent medical care for our pediatric patients,” said Gerald Rakos, MD, Chair, Department of Pediatrics and Medical Director of the Cohen Children’s Institute at Stamford Hospital. “The Cohen Children’s Institute will be a platform for attracting and retaining nationally recognized talent. We are extremely grateful to Steve and Alex Cohen for their continued and generous support as we move into a new generation of pediatric patient care.”

Slated to open in 2016, the new Stamford Hospital is designed to meet the needs of tomorrow’s patient-centered care, allow for continuously advancing and high-tech medicine and provide a more calming and welcoming environment for patients and their families.

Contributed photo: Stamford Hospital’s Whittingham Pavilion.