Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Discovery Center Established in the UH Cancer Hospital
CLEVELAND – University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center announces $35 million from the estate of Dr. Donald J. Goodman and Ruth Weber Goodman that will support UH’s cancer care program. In honor of this unparalleled generosity – given in gratitude for the pioneering cancer treatment that saved and extended Dr. Goodman’s life – UH has established the Dr. Donald J. and Ruth Weber Goodman Discovery Center for Clinical Research in the new UH Cancer Hospital. “We are honored that Don and Ruth named University Hospitals as the most significant beneficiary of The Dr. Donald J. Goodman and Ruth Weber Goodman Philanthropic Fund at the Cleveland Foundation,” says Fred C. Rothstein, MD, President of UH Case Medical Center. “The Goodman’s were passionate about the importance of clinical trials to advancing new treatments and a cure for cancer. Their dedication, along with their family, promises to change the face of cancer care for Northeast Ohio and beyond for generations to come.”
Ten years ago, Dr. Goodman was the first patient internationally to receive a novel cancer drug, Mylotarg, as a first-line treatment for his aggressive leukemia at the UH Ireland Cancer Center. Twelve days later, he was cancer-free thanks to this innovative therapy. His remarkable recovery enabled the Goodmans, veteran world travelers, to take the most remarkable journey of their lives - an expedition to the North Pole before their deaths in 2007 and 2008.
“I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to honor my parents than the naming of the Goodman Discovery Center in UH’s new Cancer Hospital,” says Bruce Goodman, a member of UH’s National Cancer Leadership Council. “My father cared deeply about University Hospitals and was so excited about their plans to build a Cancer Hospital. He understood that participation in clinical trials is vital to advancing new cancer drugs and saving lives. The Goodman Discovery Center will provide hope to families for generations to come – exactly what he envisioned.”
The Goodman Discovery Center will be home to the UH Cancer Hospital’s renowned clinical research program. The UH Cancer Hospital, scheduled to open in May 2011, is a 150-bed hospital that will house all inpatient and outpatient cancer services on the UH Case Medical Center campus and is one of only 12 free-standing cancer hospitals in the nation.
The entire third floor of the Cancer Hospital, which houses the 3,700-square-foot Goodman Discovery Center, will be dedicated to the Goodmans. The hospital’s third floor also includes inpatient beds for patients with hematologic malignancies, exercise room for patients, a bone marrow transplant laboratory and inpatient pharmacy.
The Goodman Discovery Center will feature a dedicated space for clinical trials, including treatment rooms, offices for the research nursing team and a one-of-a-kind laboratory. Patients in the UH Cancer Hospital will benefit from more than 300 clinical trials, among the highest number in the nation. The UH Cancer Hospital is a key component of Vision 2010, UH’s $1.2 billion strategic plan that includes building the UH Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood, the Center for Emergency Medicine at UH Case Medical Center and a new Electronic Medical Record system. Community support for Vision 2010 has been extraordinary - the Goodman gift is the eighth gift in excess of $10 million to UH in support of Vision 2010.
As both patients and benefactors, Dr. and Mrs. Goodman had a long relationship with UH and credited UH’s outstanding care with saving both of their lives. They were both inaugural members of UH’s National Cancer Leadership Council and in 2004 shared their intention to remember UH in their estate plan.
Throughout their lives, Dr. Goodman, a retired dentist, and Mrs. Goodman were adventurers who visited more than 250 nations. They were among the first Americans to enter China and Tibet when those countries opened their gates, and visited tribal areas in Ghana, followed missionaries in Cameroon and went on jungle walks in Borneo.
The Goodmans’ granddaughter Kayleen McDowell also serves on the National Cancer Leadership Council at UH, representing her family’s third generation of advocacy for a cancer cure. “The night before my grandfather died, he said to me, ‘I am going to beat this.’ He knew the leukemia had taken over his body but he was able to beat the disease another way and that was to give,” says Mrs. McDowell. “Through giving, my grandparents have made it possible for thousands to have a chance to be cured of cancer.”
University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians. At the core of our health system is University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked second in the nation for the care of critically ill newborns; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Ireland Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information, go to www.uhhospitals.org.