In a landmark event nearly a decade in the making, Boca Raton Regional Hospital unveiled its transformative Medical Arts Pavilion. This pivotal moment, part of the hospital’s historic expansion and modernization project, is a testament to Boca Regional’s commitment to advancing healthcare in the community.
“We prioritize caring above all. We set a high bar for clinical quality, service and experience,” said Lincoln Mendez, North Region Executive, Baptist Health and CEO, Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
The Nov. 13 celebration marked the opening of the Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion, a culmination of the successful “Keeping the Promise…The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital” fundraising initiative. This new facility, made possible by a generous $25 million donation from Toby and Leon Cooperman, is poised to set new standards in healthcare with state-of-the-art outpatient services, including same-day surgical care, diagnostic procedures, specialty clinics and an advanced Ambulatory Surgery Center.
In addition to the Medical Arts Pavilion, the hospital's expanded campus now boasts several new and upgraded facilities, including the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower, a Critical Care Tower and expanded institutes for neuroscience and heart and vascular care, alongside enhanced surgical suites and additional parking facilities.
The Boca Raton Observer was there to witness the milestone and sat down to chat with part of the dream team, “Keeping the Promise” campaign co-chairs Stanley Barry, Christine E. Lynn and Richard Schmidt (Barbara Schmidt was not in attendance), as well as philanthropists Toby and Leon Cooperman and key doctors who have played a significant role in realizing this vision.
Lincoln Mendez, Christine E. Lynn, Dick Schmidt, Stan Barry and Mark Larkin
Caring For Community
This achievement is a key chapter in the hospital’s journey, which saw a pivotal turn in 2019 with its integration into the Baptist Health South Florida network. This merger initiated a billion-dollar vision, enhancing the hospital’s capacity to deliver exceptional medical care on the Meadows Road campus.
The “Keeping the Promise” campaign, a cornerstone of this vision, garnered extraordinary community support, amassing over 1,300 philanthropic gifts and surpassing its $250 million goal. This overwhelming response has been instrumental in elevating the level of healthcare services available in Boca Raton.
Toby and Leon Cooperman are well-known in the community for their philanthropic spirit.
“We figured out many years ago there’s only four things you can do with money, if you have it, and we’ve been very lucky,” Leon said. “The first thing you can do is spend it on yourself — buy cars, homes, sports teams, art. We have no interest in collecting art. Basically, material possessions bring with them aggravation as much as pleasure. We’re ‘less is more kind of people,’” he said.
He lists bequeathing to one’s children or giving it to the government as other options but notes one robs your kids of a sense of self-achievement and is not in favor of the third option for obvious reasons.
The last — and what the Coopermans have chosen to do — is recycle their money back into the community.
“We felt it was important to support Boca Raton Regional Hospital because it serves over thirty thousand people in the community, and you don’t want people to have to go to Miami or New York for good healthcare. You want to stay in your own community — so it is a priority for us to support Boca Regional,” Leon said.
Toby added, “My attitude was, ‘If there is something wrong with me, I’m getting on an airplane.’ You get a little older, you realize you’re having a heart attack, you’re not getting on an airplane to go back up north. Why shouldn’t we be able to compete with New Jersey or New York? If that’s going to save lives, it’s good use of money.”
A Dream Come To Life
The “Keeping the Promise” campaign co-chairs Stanley Barry, Christine E. Lynn and Richard Schmidt all of whom have impressive philanthropic histories, were notably moved at the grand opening event.
Dick Schmidt and Christine E. Lynn
“It’s exciting,” said Lynn. “In that, you were able to do something like building a tower [with your name on it], knowing how many patients it’s going to help. It makes you feel good, right here,” she added, tapping her heart.
“I find it exhilarating, I really do,” Barry shares. “I’m from New York, but, coming from a small-town mentality through Long Island, I never thought I’d ever be personally involved the way I became involved,” he added reflectively. “We’re not finished! We’re just starting. We’re on the map now.”
Co-chairs told The Boca Raton Observer that north of $270 million had been raised overall.
“The original goal was less when we didn’t have some of the grand
Beverly & Joel Altman
plans that we have today,” Richard said. “As resources became available to us, we planned what the community needs to have complete healthcare,” he added.
A Hub For Top Doctors
Joint replacements, once procedures requiring overnight hospital stays, will be done at the state-of-the-art facility. “This center is beautifully designed and comes at perfect timing,” Dr. Anthony Miniaci, deputy chief medical executive of Baptist Health Orthopedic Care, said.
“[Regarding] Orthopedics, now, pretty much 95% of the surgeries we can do is either same day or overnight stays. Really the patients who need intensive care or who are high-risk candidates need to have procedures still done at the hospital but everything else in orthopedics can be done and will be done in this center,” he added.
Stanley & Marilyn Barry
There are additional plans for expansion when it comes to the orthopedic network of physicians. “My job, the reason I was recruited here, was to make a major hub in this region, to build an academic program so that we would have a residency, a fellowship-type program as well as research and education. Those are some of the goals and this will be a big component of that,” Miniaci said.
Dr. Andrew Ross, certified colorectal surgeon at Baptist Health, has been at Boca Regional Hospital for 37 years. Seeing the transformation has been incredible to experience first-hand. “I think it’s nice to have the facilities that match the kind of care that we give here. It really makes a big difference,” he said.
Upon reflecting on how the hospital has evolved over the last 20 years (parallel to the magazine’s 20 years), Dr. Ross observed the increase in quality of care, and notably, the type of care. “Patients don’t need to pick up and leave to go elsewhere. We can do pretty much anything that they can do at any other place, with the comfort of being at home, which I think is very important for patients,” he said.
Linda Behmoiras with Leon & Toby Cooperman
Noting the new emphasis on developing an academic center, “Our relationship with FAU and the residencies has increased the quality of care here,” Dr. Ross said. “We have surgical residency, we have a medical residence here and a neurology residence. We’re training young physicians and the aim is to keep them here.”
Along with the new focus on education, Director of Urologic Oncology and Robotic Urology Dr. David Taub said the philanthropic efforts seen have had an enormous positive effect.
Arlene & Dr. Ira Lazar
“A combination of Baptist and philanthropy the community has provided for us with a building like this to state-of-the-art equipment, tons of space so we can recruit the next generation for urology and lots of different subspecialties that we are in the process of recruiting — who want to come here. And as Andy [Ross] said, we have great physicians — really a nice quality of care. Physicians who have trained at Harvard, Penn, Michigan and Johns Hopkins, who come here and now we’re going to start to train that next generation.”
This significant milestone also resonates deeply with The Boca Raton Observer, celebrating its 20th year of service to the community. The magazine has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Boca Raton Regional Hospital, reflecting a shared commitment to the well-being and progress of the Boca Raton community. This partnership, built on mutual respect and shared goals, has been instrumental in highlighting the pivotal developments and achievements within the city, further strengthening the bond between the magazine and the hospital.
Photos provided by Visual Enterprises Photography, LLC and Linda Behmoiras/The Boca Raton Observer
Richard Kwal & Dr Gail Rubin Kwal