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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his family’s foundation are giving a historic gift in support of community health and health equity to Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of Mass. General Brigham. The $50 million donation is the largest gift of its kind in the hospital’s 211-year history. In an exclusive interview about the gift, Kraft said his commitment to health equity began when his late wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Past gifts from the Kraft family included financial support for recruiting doctors to jobs in underserved communities and a previous donation that created the Kraft Center for Community Health. “When my beloved Myra got sick about 12 years ago, I saw the great care she got. We have the greatest hospitals in the world right here in Massachusetts,” said Kraft. “But then I started thinking, what if I was someone of modest means or a person of color, did I have the same access?” Hospital officials said much of Kraft’s new gift will be used to create a permanent Robert K. Kraft Endowed Chair. in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion addressing health disparities in clinical care at MGH. “Diversity equity, inclusion, that’s a big area today that isn’t being served properly,” said Kraft. As an example, Kraft cited sickle cell anemia, a disease that primarily affects people of color. He said the disease deserves more research and suggested that the endowment could help drive advancements in that area.” Some of our players — Devin McCourty and his brother — really focus in this area. And we’d like to see a good outcome. he said. “I think what we’ve set up has a chance to really make that happen.” A portion of the new donation will be used to grow the endowment for the Kraft Center for Community Health, which was first established in 2011 with the goal of developing scalable solutions to community health problems.”We need to give education and we need to give equal health care to all,” said Kraft. Some of the money will also fund an expansion of the Mass General Blood Donor Center, which will be renamed in honor of the Kraft family. Hospital officials say the center already serves more than 12,000 donors each year and provides approximately 30% of the blood used for transfusions across the Mass General Brigham hospitals. Kraft serves as an honorary co-chair of the hospital’s ongoing $3 billion fundraising campaign, alongside his son Jonathan Kraft and daughter-in-law Patti Kraft. “In life, it’s all about hanging with good people and the people working in this area with us, and the financial commitment we made, was done because we think we have the highest quality people,” he said. Kraft is worth approximately $10.6 billion, according to Forbes. He made his early fortune in paper and packaging. Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 and has since added the New England Revolution MLS club and the Boston Uprising, part of the Overwatch e-sports league, to his portfolio. “I think people and families like ours have a responsibility to look out for the community and do whatever we can to improve the quality of life and the opportunities,” said Kraft.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his family’s foundation are giving a historic gift in support of community health and health equity to Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of Mass. General Brigham.
The $50 million donation is the largest gift of its kind in the hospital’s 211-year history.
In an exclusive interview about the gift, Kraft said his commitment to health equity began when his late wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Past gifts from the Kraft family included financial support for recruiting doctors to jobs in underserved communities and a previous donation that created the Kraft Center for Community Health.
“When my beloved Myra got sick about 12 years ago, I saw the great care she got. We have the greatest hospitals in the world right here in Massachusetts,” said Kraft. “But then I started thinking, what if I was someone of modest means or a person of color, did I have the same access?”
Hospital officials said much of Kraft’s new gift will be used to create a permanent Robert K. Kraft Endowed Chair in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion addressing health disparities in clinical care at MGH.
“Diversity equity, inclusion, that’s a big area today that isn’t being served properly,” said Kraft.
As an example, Kraft cited sickle cell anemia, a disease that primarily affects people of color. He said the disease deserves more research and suggested that the endowment could help drive advancements in that area.
“Some of our players — Devin McCourty and his brother — really focus in this area. And we’d like to see a good outcome,” he said. “I think what we’ve set up has a chance to really make that happen.”
A portion of the new donation will be used to grow the endowment for the Kraft Center for Community Health, which was first established in 2011 with the goal of developing scalable solutions to community health problems.
“We need to provide education and we need to provide equal health care to all,” said Kraft.
Some of the money will also fund an expansion of the Mass General Blood Donor Center, which will be renamed in honor of the Kraft family. Hospital officials say the center already serves more than 12,000 donors each year and provides approximately 30% of the blood used for transfusions across the Mass General Brigham hospitals.
Kraft serves as an honorary co-chair of the hospital’s ongoing $3 billion fundraising campaign, alongside his son Jonathan Kraft and daughter-in-law Patti Kraft.
“In life, it’s all about hanging with good people and the people working in this area with us, and the financial commitment we made, was done because we think we have the highest quality people,” he said.
Kraft is worth approximately $10.6 billion, according to Forbes. He made his early fortune in paper and packaging.
Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994 and has since added the New England Revolution MLS club and the Boston Uprising, part of the Overwatch e-sports league, to his portfolio.
“I think people and families like ours have a responsibility to look out for the community and do whatever we can to improve the quality of life and the opportunities,” said Kraft.
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