Gift to medical center to fund educational center

William and Joan Schreyer donate $5 million

By: Courtney Gross
   When the University Medical Center at Princeton relocates to Plainsboro around 2011 it is going to include an educational center unlike anything in its current facility.
   Thanks to a $5 million donation from the former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, William Schreyer — as well as his wife, Joan Schreyer — the medical center’s proposed state-of-the-art facility will include a Community and Professional Education Center for lectures, conferences and area residents’ use.
   Although the center was planned for the new medical center site prior to the donation, the Schreyers’ gift pushes the project further towards reality, said Pam Hersh, vice president for government and community affairs for the medical center’s parent company — Princeton HealthCare System.
   "Joan and I are thrilled to be among the first to support the vision of the new University Medical Center at Princeton, and we are extremely pleased to support a community and professional education center," Mr. Schreyer said in a prepared statement.
   The gift is the largest from a private individual to the Princeton Healthcare System’s fundraising arm to date, according to an announcement on the Princeton HealthCare System Web site.
   Because of the hospital’s affiliation with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Ms. Hersh said, the education center is a given for the new medical center site. The current campus, located on Witherspoon Street, has only a small library and conference rooms, she added.
   In comparison, the proposed education center will include an 80-seat interactive lecture room, two 20-seat video conference rooms and another, smaller conference room. It will also contain a library, office space and large lecture hall that can be used as four additional classrooms.
   "All I can say is that undoubtedly this center is going to be spectacular and is modeled not on anything in existence, but rather designed to serve our health care delivery education needs in the best possible manner," Ms. Hersh said in an e-mailed statement.
   In addition to the center’s classroom capabilities, it will also provide resources for medical center patients. A Patient and Family Resource Center that distributes knowledge to patients will be within the larger educational center as will a simulation laboratory that is meant to facilitate clinical training without risk.
   Barry S. Rabner, president and chief executive officer of Princeton HealthCare System, said in a prepared statement, "The William and Joan Schreyer Center for Community and Professional Education will transform health care education in our region by establishing a state-of-the-art facility that will promote awareness and learning by encouraging engaged discussions about health and wellness among members of the community, physicians and healthcare professionals."
   The $5 million gift is one step toward the total cost of the new medical center — estimated at $350 million. At the anticipated groundbreaking of the hospital in early 2008, Ms. Hersh said, Princeton HealthCare System would announce how much it intends to raise.
   The Schreyers have been connected to the medical center since the early 1970s. Mr. Schreyer was a member of the medical center’s board when it was still known as The Medical Center at Princeton. He was chairman of the board of the Princeton HealthCare System Foundation from 1995 through 2003.
   The hospital won state approval for its relocation last month. Ms. Hersh said medical center representatives are currently discussing municipal approvals with Plainsboro’s Master Plan Subcommittee.
   The 269-bed facility is slated for the FMC site at the intersection of Route 1 and Plainsboro Road, which is approximately three miles away from its current location.