Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation Receives $800,000 Donation

The Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust donated $800,000 to the Healthcare Foundation to support the Emergency Medicine Graduate Medical Education Program at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. The gift will fund new medical equipment for patient care and training medical residents in the ER residency program. The gift will also fund the purchase of patient simulators or mannequins that enable medical professionals to hone their skills without risk to actual patients.

“For Gloria Flanzer, supporting healthcare was of critical importance and she wanted the Emergency Department to be a fundamental focus because it is the point-of-entry for the at-risk in our community,” says Dean Hautamaki, M.D., and Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust co-trustee. “By supporting the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, we are fulfilling her wishes.”

“Lou and Gloria Flanzer were extremely committed to improving the capabilities of emergency care facilities.  Lou personally had many occasions to use ER facilities due to a heart condition in his later years and they became educated of importance of high-quality ER service personally.  During their lifetimes, they had generously given to ER facilities in other hospitals.  This gift was one of Gloria’s last directives to Dean and I prior to her passing,” added Eric Kaplan, Dr. Hautamaki’s co-trustee.

The Emergency Medicine Residency Program was established at Sarasota Memorial to meet healthcare and physician workforce needs in the Sarasota area and surrounding communities. The three-year program enrolls nine medical school graduates each year.  Once their training concludes, these physicians will be able to take their emergency medicine board certification test.

“We are so grateful to have such a great relationship with the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust,” says Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation President Mason Ayres. “Their support is instrumental in building a strong Emergency Medicine Residency Program at SMH, and in furthering the Healthcare Foundation’s mission to help SMH provide the very best care today and into the future.”