Perelman Gift Will Establish Health Centers

By Staff Reporter of the Sun | February 28, 2008

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is set to announce a major gift from the billionaire Ronald Perelman today.

The gift will establish the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Care Institute and the Ronald O. Perelman and Claudia Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Mr. Perelman, the chairman and chief executive officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, is expected to announce the endowment today at a news conference with the hospital's president, Dr. Herbert Pardes, and the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn. Hospital officials declined to specify the scope of the gift, although sources said it could amount to as much as $50 million. The developments are the latest in a string of expansions for New-York-Presbyterian. Last month, the hospital announced plans to quadruple the size of the pediatric emergency room at its Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in Washington Heights. The facility will bear the name of Alexandra and Steven Cohen, in recognition of the couple's $50 million gift.

In November, the hospital held a topping-out ceremony for the $242 million Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center in Washington Heights. That facility is expected to open in 2010.