$35 million latest gift to children’s hospital from Tom Golisano raises his philanthropic giving over the billion-dollar mark

Avera Health has secured the largest gift in its history, a $35 million commitment from philanthropist and Paychex Inc. founder B. Thomas Golisano to support a new children’s hospital and expand pediatric services in Sioux Falls and across a five-state region.

The contribution will fuel Avera’s Tomorrow’s Promise Campaign and the construction of a six-story, $165 million patient care tower at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, where the children’s facility will be named the Avera Golisano Children’s Hospital in recognition of the gift.

The project, expected to open in early 2027, will add about 220,000 square feet of space dedicated to birthing, newborn care, and pediatrics, and is a central piece of Avera’s broader $250 million strategic commitment to enhance care for newborns, children, and families.

Golisano, an entrepreneur and long-time child health advocate, has become one of the country’s most prolific individual philanthropists. His lifetime philanthropic giving surpassed $1 billion following his 2025 commitment of $253 million to create the Golisano Children’s Alliance and support six university-based children’s hospitals, with additional reporting from his foundation and partner institutions confirming that his combined personal and foundation giving now exceeds that $1 billion milestone.

His contributions span health care, education, disability services, and animal welfare, including major gifts that have established or expanded multiple children’s hospitals that now bear his name in Rochester, Syracuse, Fort Myers and Buffalo, among other communities.

In a statement on the Sioux Falls gift, Golisano framed the Avera investment as a way to close geographic gaps in pediatric care rather than simply construct another building. “Children and families should not have to travel long distances to get the care they need,” he said, emphasizing that his investment in the Avera Golisano Children’s Hospital is about giving kids access to outstanding care closer to home, supporting families, and creating better outcomes for the future.

The Avera partnership expands his pediatric footprint into one of the most rural regions yet to join his children’s hospital network, aligning with his recent focus on underserved and non-urban communities.

For Avera, headquartered in Sioux Falls, the gift is described as transformational for children and families across its multistate footprint, which spans five states in the Upper Midwest. Avera president and CEO Jim Dover said Golisano’s investment reflects an enduring commitment to advancing the future of children’s health and emphasized that children from across the entire region will benefit from this gift for generations to come.

Leaders say the Sioux Falls-based children’s health program already serves as a hub for pediatric care across the system, and the enhanced facilities will deepen that role by expanding specialty and subspecialty care, telemedicine, and virtual support, allowing more families in rural communities to remain close to home when possible.

The $35 million contribution will support several high-priority needs identified by Avera clinicians and planners. Funding will expand behavioral health services for children and adolescents, an area of growing demand, and enable the recruitment of additional pediatric specialists to improve access and reduce wait times.

A key emphasis is on family-centered design: plans call for enhanced spaces that allow parents and caregivers to stay close to their children during treatment and recovery, acknowledging the emotional and practical realities of long hospital stays for young patients.

The new tower will also bring a welcoming front entrance and a consolidated women’s and children’s environment on the Avera McKennan campus, with room reserved for future education, conference and administrative functions as pediatric needs evolve over time.

Physicians say the impact will be felt both locally and across the broader Avera network. Dr. Ron Place, regional president and CEO of Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, noted that the health system’s children’s program already supports the entire Avera system through specialty and subspecialty pediatric care, bolstered by telemedicine and virtual services that extend to rural areas.

Dr. Kathy Wang, a neonatologist and clinical vice president for the women’s and children’s service line, said the Avera Golisano Children’s Hospital will provide a welcoming front door for pediatric care in Sioux Falls while simultaneously supporting systemwide growth through additional specialists, program expansion, and more timely services across all five states Avera serves.

The gift also formally connects Avera to a growing national pediatric network. With this investment, Avera will join the Golisano Children’s Alliance, a national consortium of children’s hospitals launched by Golisano in 2025 with a $253 million commitment to six new university-based children’s hospitals, bringing together those institutions with four existing Golisano-branded children’s hospitals.

The alliance is designed to improve pediatric care delivery, strengthen collaboration, and expand access for families by allowing independent children’s hospitals to share best practices, pursue joint innovations, and coordinate outreach to underserved communities. Avera’s entry makes it the westernmost and most rural member of the alliance, underscoring both the system’s geographic reach and Golisano’s stated goal of extending pediatric excellence beyond major metropolitan centers.

Within Avera, philanthropic leaders say the gift will accelerate and broaden work already underway. Dzenan Berberovic, Avera’s chief development officer and foundation president, described the donation as a defining investment that will speed efforts to expand programs, physical space, and capabilities for women’s and children’s services across the system.

Calling it “a gift for every child and family we will serve for generations,” he emphasized that while children and families receive exceptional care today, the Golisano funding will allow Avera to build out the facilities and programs needed to transform lives on a larger scale.

Hospital leadership also noted that philanthropic support is critical to achieving healthier futures for children and families across the region, and the Golisano gift is expected to inspire additional community and donor engagement.

As construction continues on the six-story patient care tower and planning advances for the Avera Golisano Children’s Hospital, system leaders are positioning the project as both a local and regional inflection point.

In Sioux Falls and nearby communities, families can expect a modern, consolidated environment for birthing, newborn care, and pediatrics, designed around the needs of women, children, and their support systems.

Regionally, the expanded facility, additional specialists, and connection to a national alliance will help children across Avera’s five-state service area access advanced care more quickly and closer to home, rather than traveling long distances for complex services.

By aligning a record-setting local gift with a broader national pediatric initiative, Avera and Golisano are investing in strategic philanthropy, coordinated networks, and regionally grounded care to reshape the pediatric landscape for years to come.