Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta plans to use a $75 million gift to build a specialty heart center that they hope would be on par with the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center.
The gift came from a foundation created by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus. It is the second-largest donation ever to a U.S. community hospital, Piedmont said in a release.
The system will build a Marcus Heart and Vascular Center that it plans to make a destination throughout Georgia for specialized heart care. The gift kicks off a $150 million capital campaign.
The center also is expected to expand Piedmont's ability to participate in and lead cardiovascular research studies, and share its work with other national experts in cardiovascular care, according to the release.
Piedmont CEO Kevin Brown told Georgia Health News that the goal is to create a “destination” heart program like Cleveland Clinic's renowned heart center, which attracts patients from around the world.
Piedmont, which has six hospitals, is one of Atlanta's largest regional healthcare systems.
The $75 million gift from The Marcus Foundation is Piedmont's second in four years. In 2012, the foundation gifted Piedmont $20 million to create a heart valve center.
