Only VIPs were allowed to assemble at the official groundbreaking for Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s new building and parking, usually an occasion for a much larger gathering.
Once the city signs off on a permit in early May, the three-building complex on Meadows Road across from the hospital will be demolished, said foundation president Mark Larkin.
That will make way for the Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion. The freestanding facility will house medical specialty clinics, an ambulatory surgery center and orthopedics program, and doctors’ offices. The Coopermans’ $25 million gift makes the new building possible, the hospital announced.
Backdropped by heavy machinery, the masked group assembled for a ‘shovels in the ground’ photo shoot Friday afternoon. “We expect to open the doors in early 2024,” Larkin noted.
The new building is one of nine projects under the hospital’s Keeping the Promise campaign. That includes the new Schmidt Family Parking garage, already constructed, and eventually a new patient tower.
The campaign has surpassed its first goal toward $250 million, Larkin announced.
“This campus will look completely different in two years,” said Boca Raton philanthropist Christine E. Lynn, campaign co-chair and the hospital’s board chair. https://keepingthepromise.brrh.com/the-campaign/
Then the Coopermans were toasted for their respective birthdays, and Leon Cooperman said a few words: “You’re doing a great job taking care of people.”
Also at the event were philanthropists Dick and Barbara Schmidt, campaign co-chairs; hospital CEO Lincoln Mendez and Sarah Pollak, assistant vice president, Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation. Stanley Barry chairs the foundation and is the other campaign co-chair.
By Marci Shatzman
