CLEVELAND – The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust has awarded University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital a gift, with a double-impact twist. The Lennon Trust will match any individual’s contribution to Rainbow up to $1,000 until the total amount of the $2 million challenge is raised. The funds donated by the Lennon Trust will support the continued development of the highly specialized Children’s Heart Center at Rainbow.
“We wanted to give this gift in a way that inspired others to support one of our region’s greatest assets – Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital,” said Christopher P. Hitchcock, executive director of The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust. “This challenge provides an opportunity for people to make an even greater impact in supporting the very best care for the babies and children of our community.”
“The Children’s Heart Center touches so many of our patients,” said Michael Farrell, president of Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and MacDonald Women’s Hospital. “This gift will truly allow us to enhance and expand our services and to continue providing the absolute best care to children. We are incredibly grateful to The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust for this inspirational contribution.”
Rainbow’s pediatric heart center provides diagnostics, intervention, treatments and prevention services to many areas of the hospital, and also provides comprehensive, advanced care to babies and children born with complex congenital heart defects.
“With this gift, our center can grow by leaps and bounds,” said Avroy Fanaroff, M.D. chairman of pediatrics at Rainbow. “We truly want to be completely comprehensive and seamless in our services – from diagnosis to surgery and long after. The Lennon Trust’s generosity will provide us with the opportunity to recruit preeminent physician-scientists and additional nursing and support staff, as well as outfit and equip a highly-specialized surgical suite and cardiac catheterization lab for cardiothoracic procedures. The difference this will make for our patients is immeasurable.”
Rainbow has a strong foundation as a pioneer and innovator in pediatric cardiology. The first open-heart surgery performed by Jay Ankeney, M.D., at Rainbow in 1957 led to innovative advances in the treatment of children’s heart disease, and in 1960 the region’s first newborn cardiac catheterization was led by Jerome Liebman, M.D., a world-renowned pediatric cardiology legend. Rainbow’s cardiologists were the first in the world to apply Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging to the diagnosis of heart disease in children, and Rainbow was one of the first centers nationwide to offer heart/lung bypass and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), helping to save babies with life-threatening pulmonary and cardiac problems. Today, Rainbow’s specialists provide a continuum of expert diagnostic and therapeutic care from birth through adulthood, working closely as an interdisciplinary team across all subspecialties.
The Fred A. Lennon Charitable Trust honors American manufacturer and philanthropist, Fred A. Lennon (1905-1998). In 1947, Mr. Lennon borrowed $500 from his wife's uncle to start Swagelok, which he originally ran from the kitchen of his apartment in Cleveland. He pioneered the marketing, manufacturing and distribution of the Swagelok Tube Fitting, a two-ferrule mechanical swaging-type fitting for fluid handling systems. Until his final illness, Mr. Lennon worked at the company every day for more than 50 years. Lennon was active in, and contributed much to, a variety of charitable organizations principally in Northeast Ohio.