MORGANTOWN – The event center at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place turned into a jungle Saturday evening. A life-size elephant sculpture greeting the people entering the lobby – men in tuxedos, women in shimmery ball gowns.
In the event center itself, vines hung from the ceiling. Palm fronts, tropical flowers and animal sculptures decorated the tables. Jungle noises filled the air.
It was the 21st annual WVU Medicine Children’s Gala, titled Into the Jungle.
This year’s gala will raise money for the children’s hospital 15,214-square-foot Children’s Outpatient Clinic to be built on the hospital’s 10th floor, next to the Jeff and Vicky Hostetler Family Resource Center.
The clinic will take shape in shell space on the 10th floor, and will consolidate outpatient services via a dedicated clinic space to streamline care and access for patients and their families.
The project will build out new clinical space for existing services, including medical weight management, neurology, neurosurgery, pulmonology, sleep disorders, plastic surgery, trauma, surgery and their associated multidisciplinary clinics and procedure spaces.
Last year’s gala raised $1.45 million and they hope to top that this year, hospital leaders said.
Amy Bush, chief administrative officer of WVU Medicine Children’s, said about 1,300 people were expected to attend and more than 87 sponsors contributed.
Planning a gala begins as soon as the prior one ends, she said. They go into full planning mode about six months out.
“This event is a combination of so many people from the WVU Medicine Children’s Foundation, our hospital team and hundreds of community folks who come out and volunteer either with their time, decorating, or giving of their money, sponsorships,” she said.
And the gala helps the hospital’s overall mission, she said. “We want to build healthier futures for the kids. We want to be able to give them access to care here in our home state.”
Michael Grace is president and CEO of WVU Hospitals and explained the importance of the gala.
Children’s hospitals mostly don’t make money, he said. And while WVUMC doesn’t exist to make a profit, there is a need to generate a positive bottom line. “Events like this really contribute to and help our ability to do things like renovate the 10th floor.”
Galas have generated just under $10 million over the last 20 years, he said.
Dr. David Rosen is WVU professor of pediatrics and anesthesia, head of pediatric cardiac anesthesia and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesia. He was title sponsor for the evening, reflecting his financial support for the event.
He’s bee at WVU for 33 years, he said. “This has been special, I’ve been able to watch the children that I care for grow up.”
He mentioned patients who he took care of as babies who met, married, and had a baby that he also cared for. “I live for these kids, to give them their life possibilities.”
Pediatric services are spread across the medical campus, he said. The centralized clinic will be more comfortable and enhance the experience for the kids and their families.
“You just feel better when you walk in the door of Children’s Hospital,” he said. “It’s where I need to be, it’s where I’m going to be cared for, as opposed to being shuffled all over the campus.”
