(Jan. 7) -- The Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation has pledged $16 million to Chicago's new Children's Memorial Hospital, the Chicago Tribune has reported.
The gift, announced Wednesday, will establish an emergency care center for the hospital.
The Griffins' foundation was established last year. Kenneth Griffin is founder of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group, and his wife, Anne, runs a smaller hedge fund, Aragon Global Management. Anne Griffin joined the hospital's board in 2005.
"We started the foundation for two reasons," Anne Griffin told the Tribune. "No. 1, given the toughness of the economic climate, we wanted to make sure we were contributing here and now, because the rainy day is now.
"And we also felt it was important to make a difference immediately, rather than at the end of our lives, if you will."
The hospital plans to open by summer 2012, when it will relocate from the Lincoln Park neighborhood to Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood. The current Children's hospital has outgrown its facilities, forcing staff to turn away more than 200 children a year. The new hospital will be able to accommodate more than 310 beds.
Children's Memorial CEO Patrick Magoon said the hospital has $150 million left to raise for the project, which is estimated to cost more than $900 million.
To read more, go to the Chicago Tribune.
