Wishard lands $2.2M in employee fundraising campaign

An employee-giving campaign for the new Wishard medical center brought in about $2.2 million, making the campaign one of the largest of its kind for a public hospital, according to Wishard Health Services officials.

More than 1,000 employees gave $1.1 million to the campaign, and an anonymous donor provided a dollar-for-dollar match, hospital officials said in a press release.

Wishard has exceeded its goal of raising $50 million because of a $40 million gift from Indianapolis developer Sidney Eskenazi and his wife, Lois. The hospital complex that is to open in 2014 will be named the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health.

Wishard officials said employee giving rose 40 percent after the Eskenazis' gift was announced June 22.

The campaign targeted employees of Marion County Health and Hospital Corp., which owns the downtown hospital. That includes Wishard Health Services, the Marion County Public Health Department and Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services. Gifts from doctors were not counted, a Wishard spokesman said. 

Philanthropy has been a major component of building the $754 million hospital without a tax increase.

Wishard earlier this week announced a $1 million gift from Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation. Lilly's name will grace the lobby of the new hospital.

In honor of the staff gifts, an "Employee Giving Wall" in the new hospital will include the names of 630 staff members. In addition, 117 rooms and areas will be named by employees or teams of employees.

"Employee giving of this magnitude speaks to the spirit of compassion, the personal commitment and pride our staff have in Wishard and the new Eskenazi Health," Wishard Health Services CEO Lisa E. Harris said in a prepared statement.