Boston, Massachusetts: Celtics Owners Give More Than $200 Million to Boston Children's Hospital, the Largest Gift in Its History

Boston Children's Hospital announced a historic gift of more than $200 million from the Boston Celtics ownership group and the Boston Celtics on Thursday, October 29, in association with the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation. The hospital said the donation is the largest gift in its history.

The money will support five priorities across the hospital. It will help build what the hospital called the nation's premier pediatric mental health facility, with earlier interventions for children in crisis. It will fuel research into emerging therapies for childhood diseases and work to uncover the origins of adult diseases. It will support advanced training for pediatric nurses. It will create an innovation fund for new ideas that can transform children's health, and it will expand family centered programs.

Half of the total was already on its way. Celtics co-owner Rob Hale and his wife, Karen, had announced a $100 million gift in December to help build the hospital's new pediatric behavioral health campus in Boston's Brighton neighborhood. According to the Boston Globe, that December gift inspired the rest of the ownership team to chip in and match what the Hales gave. The behavioral health campus carries a $640 million price, the Globe reported. The ownership group is led by Celtics chairman and governor Bill Chisholm and includes about two dozen owners.

The hospital's chief executive measured the gift by what it will do rather than what it cost. "While the size of this gift is unprecedented for Boston Children's Hospital, its significance will ultimately be measured not by the record it sets, but by the lives it will save," said Dr. Kevin Churchwell, the hospital's CEO.

Chisholm made the same point from the team's side. "The Celtics have historically been defined by the concept that true legacy is more than what happens on the court," he said. "Boston Children's and the Celtics share a belief that it takes every single one of us to achieve our most ambitious goals. This gift is our commitment to the next generation in Boston and far beyond. We all win when we invest in our children's futures."

Hale, who has served the hospital up close, put it in personal terms. "I've had the privilege of seeing firsthand the extraordinary work being done at Boston Children's Hospital and the difference it makes for patients and families," he said in the hospital's release. "Through this gift, the Celtics and Boston Children's Hospital can help advance groundbreaking research, expand access to exceptional care, and create opportunities to improve the lives of children for years to come."

The celebration reaches the court on Friday night. The Celtics host the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden, and the team will highlight Boston Children's Hospital during the game, with in-game moments celebrating current and former patients, families and staff with ties to the hospital.