CT Children’s receives major donation from former board chairman

Contributed An artist's rendering of the new tower at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.

Write a Comment

On the same day that Connecticut Children’s Medical Center held a topping-off ceremony for its new eight-story tower, the hospital announced a major donation Wednesday from its former board chairman and his wife.

David and Linda Roth provided the medical center with the expansion project’s largest single gift, although the amount was not disclosed. A spokesperson for the hospital said the donation was made on the condition that the amount be kept private.

The Roths are longtime major philanthropists in the Hartford region.

Connecticut Children’s officials said the donation will specifically help the hospital’s expansion and growth plans in Hartford. The centerpiece of that is the new clinical tower under construction adjacent to the Washington Street hospital. The tower will nearly double the hospital’s clinical space, adding 50 private neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) rooms that feature in-room accommodations for parents.

New service lines, including a Fetal Care Center — one of only nine in the U.S. capable of providing a full range of fetal interventions — and the Advanced Cellular & Gene Therapy Unit that will make bone marrow transplants for pediatric cancer patients available in Hartford, are also included.

“The most important thing we can do is to provide the best and safest care to kids. It improves the quality of life for everyone in Greater Hartford and the region,” David Roth said. “Linda and I believe in the leadership and the mission of Connecticut Children’s.”

Connecticut Children’s President and CEO, Jim Shmerling, expressed gratitude for the gift.

"David and Linda have been wonderful friends of Connecticut Children’s for years,” he said. ”They know us better than anyone else, and their phenomenally generous lead gift for our expansion is truly touching.”