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Helping Others Heal: An appeal to consider giving
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When Bob and Monica Jacoby look at the building that’s named in their honor at Mayo Clinic in Florida, their view travels almost 360 degrees.
It starts with the people and technology inside the building, including a cyclotron and radiochemistry lab to make radioactive particles that are driving a wave of innovation in medical imaging. But then their vistas expand to the connections between the building and patient care across the campus. Finally, it returns to the front of the building and the concrete-and-steel sign that recognizes their most recent gift to Mayo Clinic: a $10 million donation to support the expansion of the Florida campus.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacoby hope that sign prompts others to make a similar journey of their own. And as others make that trip, the couple hopes they see "Jacoby Building" as an appeal to consider giving to Mayo Clinic.
“We marvel at the steel and glass that make up the buildings at Mayo Clinic,” says Mrs. Jacoby. “But we celebrate the hope, love and caring that goes on within its walls. We want other people to see our name as a vote of confidence, and we hope they will join us in supporting Mayo.”
Their most recent gift continues a string of gifts to Mayo Clinic that help thousands of patients find healing every year. In 2001, when Mayo Clinic announced plans to build a new hospital in Florida, Mr. and Mrs. Jacoby made a leadership gift and served on a fundraising committee that secured the philanthropy to make the hospital a reality. Then, in 2016, the couple supported the construction of a new 16,000-square-foot, multidisciplinary breast center at the campus. They also have funded professorships that support research in cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
“Bob and Monica’s philanthropy changes lives every day at Mayo Clinic,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., vice president, Mayo Clinic, and CEO of Mayo Clinic Florida, and president and CEO-elect of Mayo Clinic. “I’m grateful for their confidence in us, and we will continue to earn it every day through the care and answers that we deliver to patients.”
Many more patients will receive Mayo Clinic’s care and answers, thanks to the support of Mr. and Mrs. Jacoby and other benefactors of the Florida expansion. Mayo Clinic has invested more than $500 million in the campus to double the space for patient care, add new staff and new expertise, and introduce new technologies that support breakthrough treatments.
The Jacoby Building is a cornerstone in that plan. The cyclotron and radiochemistry lab will begin generating isotopes for patient care in mid-2019. These particles are supporting a new generation of medical imaging tests that can diagnose diseases far earlier and with much greater specificity.
One example is choline C-11 positron emission tomography (PET) scanning for recurrent prostate cancer. The test, which Mayo Clinic invented, detects prostate cancer recurrence as much as seven years earlier, compared to other forms of conventional imaging. The Jacoby Building’s staff also will generate isotopes that improve diagnosis and treatment of other cancers, as well as neurologic disorders and heart disease. And that list will grow as medical knowledge reaches new horizons.
“Our expansion in Florida will increase our capacity to help patients now, and it’s adding people, space and technology that will change the future of medicine,” Dr. Farrugia says. “The Jacoby Building is a perfect example, and it’s a wonderful addition to Bob and Monica’s healing legacy.”
Article written by Matt Derechin, Pubic Affairs Senior Communication Specialist
