ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital announced today it will receive a major grant of $4 million from The Carls Foundation, which will advance the hospital's campaign to build a new facility.

The Carls Foundation grant carries with it the mission and commitment of its late founders, Detroit industrialist William Carls and his wife, Marie Carls, to provide the youngest patients with the best medical care through the support of pediatric health care facilities and programs in Michigan.

Awarded by the Board of Trustees of the foundation after a formal application by the U-M Health System, the new grant moves Mott closer to the creation of a new state-of-the-art hospital that will provide patients in Michigan, the United States and across the globe with even greater access to U-M's world-class medical care for newborns, children and pregnant women. The U-M Health System soon hopes to seek permission from the University of Michigan's Board of Regents to proceed with the building project.

The grant brings to $9.6 million the total funds raised through the Mott capital and program campaign, led by U-M Regent David Brandon and his wife, Jan, and U-M head football coach Lloyd Carr and his wife, Laurie. The figure includes more than $400,000 in “M GO BLUE for Mott” wristband sales. The Mott campaign to build a new children's and women's hospital is part of the University-wide $2.5 billion Michigan Difference campaign.

“The Carls Foundation has made significant contributions to Mott programs and research in the past, and we're very pleased and excited that the foundation now will be a part of our plans to build for the future of children's and women's care in Michigan,” says Robert P. Kelch, M.D., U-M executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of the U-M Health System.

“Having lost their only child in infancy, William and Marie Carls experienced personally the need for advanced and readily available pediatric medical care, and made it a principle mission of the foundation they established,” says Elizabeth A. Stieg, executive director of The Carls Foundation, based in Detroit, Mich. “The Trustees of The Carls Foundation felt that the Mott Children's Hospital plans for a new facility are clearly needed and helps fulfill that mission, and that William and Marie Carls would have been pleased by this grant.”

Past grants from The Carls Foundation have allowed Mott to advance research and care in the area of jaw-related birth defects and to establish a new diagnostic and treatment program for children at risk for profound hearing loss in the U-M Section of Pediatric Otolaryngology.

While such programs and research efforts have made Mott a nationally and internationally-recognized leader in children's health, the time has come to build a new hospital in the interest of keeping pace with future innovation, technology, and advances in patient-centered clinical care, says Associate Hospital Director for Children's and Women's Services Patricia A. Warner, MPH.

“Since the Mott facility was conceived in the 1950s, patient care, research and medical technology have made extraordinary advances,” notes Warner. “In our current facility, it's become a challenge for us to keep up with increasing patient demand and make room for current advances in medical technology and treatment.”

In fiscal year 2004 alone, 11,519 children were admitted to or born at the facility, and there were about 350,000 outpatient visits by children and infants to U-M clinics. Plus, demand for Mott surgical services has increased an average of 5 percent to 10 percent each year.

The proposed new facility will house Mott's current services, as well as the Michigan Congenital Heart Center, the Birth Center and Holden Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and one of only 13 Level 1 pediatric trauma centers in the United States, Warner says. Plus, a new facility will give Mott the space it needs to grow well into the 21 st century of medical care and research, and to best care for its growing patient population.

To learn more about the Mott campaign, visit www.med.umich.edu/mott.

The Carls Foundation, established in 1961, supports youth activities, especially for disadvantaged children, as well as pediatric health facilities and programs, and preservation of natural areas and historic buildings throughout Michigan . The foundation's web site is located at www.carlsfdn.org.

Written by Krista Hopson

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