Leadership Gifts Kick Off $20 Million Campaign to Support Sinai Hospital's ED Expansion

Sinai Hospital’s emergency department (ED) expertly handles as many as 82,000 patient visits per year. It’s a stunning number—especially when you consider the ED is only designed to serve 55,000. 

“We’ve never let the size of our facilities stand in the way of our ability to deliver exceptional emergency care,” says Daniel Blum, president of Sinai Hospital. “But we also can’t afford to sit back and wait. Our community deserves an ED that grows with it.” 

Now the hospital is launching a two-year, 66,900-square-foot ED modernization and expansion project that will more than double the department’s footprint and increase the number of patients that can be served annually by a full 30 percent. The project will also include anew rapid offloading area to accommodate the rise in ambulance volume, safer and more efficient workflows, flex spaces for disaster response, a larger Level II Trauma Center and more. 

It’s a $50 million initiative that will require $20 million in community fundraising. Thankfully, two longtime LifeBridge Health supporters have kicked off the effort: the Herman & Walter Samuelson Foundation and the husband-and-wife team of Lisa and Barry Stoler.

Both donors have a history of generosity when it comes to Sinai’s ED and were eager to answer the call again. The Samuelson Foundation’s first-ever gift to LifeBridge Health was to fund the ED’s last major renovation in 1997. Likewise, Lisa and Barry Stoler contributed to the renovation of Sinai’s pediatric ED in 2016. 

The latest Samuelson and Stoler gifts represent more than just dollars toward the project’s bottom line. They are a rallying cry for the entire community. 

“With these two leadership gifts, the Samuelson Foundation and the Stoler family are providing critical momentum to the entire project,” explains Joel Simon, LifeBridge Health’s director of principal gifts. “Their commitment is validation to everyone else that this is a cause worth getting behind.” 

Join the campaign to expand emergency care at Sinai Hospital. Contact LifeBridge Health’s development team at 410-601-GIFT (4438) orgiving@lifebridgehealth.org to learn more. 

Photo: Renderings of the Herman & Walter Samuelson Emergency Pavilion, set to be completed in 2024.