Why is the color of Herbie Wertheim’s trademark fedora red? It should be green.
Like money.
The billionaire philanthropist and Palm Beach property owner has met his pledge of $100 million to Baptist Health South Florida, the largest single philanthropic gift in the health system’s history. The intent of the Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute Transformational Impact Fund is to expand cancer research, treatment and prevention efforts at the Miami Cancer Institute.
“My goal is to be able to do whatever I can to be transformative,” Wertheim told the Miami Herald.
Mission accomplished.
“What a wonderful, exciting moment in the history of Miami,” said Bo Boulenger, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida. “It’s a transformational gift for cancer care. We’re going to do extraordinary things with this gift.”
With cancer diagnoses on the rise — including breast and colorectal cancer — among younger people, the funds will establish the Dr. Herbert Wertheim Center for Cancer Prevention, which will focus on early detection, screening technology and community-based prevention programs, according to Baptist Health South Florida.
In recognition of his generosity, the institute will be renamed the Baptist Health Herbert Wertheim Cancer Institute.
Also tagged for a cut of the philanthropic pie is Baptist Health Research’s partnership with the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. The school was renamed in 2009 in the wake of a $20 million gift from Wertheim and his wife, Nicole who has since died.
The partnership is expected to expand training and professional development opportunities for medical students.
“I think he’s really kind of pulling the pieces together to create the groundwork of something important,” said Juan C. Cendan, dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and senior vice president for health affairs at FIU.
Cendan also sees the potential for a surge of growth in the medical school and says the investment will “push the cart forward.”
“Our medical school is only 16 years old,” Cendan said. “It takes a long time to build a medical school to the impact of the University of Florida and Vanderbilt. It takes a lot of investment. It takes a lot of time to develop the infrastructure. These kinds of direct commitments to support advances many years at a time.”
Wertheim, an optometrist by profession, is estimated to have a net worth of $4.3 billion, according to Forbes.com.
Since 1996 the Wertheim family, through its Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Family Foundation, has donated tens of millions to Florida International University, supporting the performing arts center, nursing school and medical school.
In 2006, a $100 million donation benefited what was then known as the Scripps Biomedical Research Institute in Jupiter and has since been renamed for Wertheim. The gift was part of a $1 billion public-private partnership between the foundation and the the University of Florida.
Last year, Florida State University’s College of Business received $65 million. His first recorded donation was $100 to the Boy Scouts of America.
Wertheim has deep roots in Coral Gables in Miami-Dade County but also owns homes in Palm Beach and Manalapan.
Shannnon Donnelly is the society editor of the Palm Beach Daily News.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Wertheim gives $100M to Baptist Health cancer center, FIU partnership
Reporting by Shannon Donnelly, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Shannon Donnelly, Palm Beach Daily News | USA TODAY Network
