URMC gets $30M donation for nursing student scholarships, research, and more

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The University of Rochester Medical Center got a massive donation from a Rochester philanthropist.

E. Philip Saunders gave $30 million to URMC to fund research, programs, and faculty. Most of the money will support the groundbreaking of UR Medicine’s new facility in Henrietta. It will be renamed the Saunders Center for Orthopedics and Physical Performance.

Some of the donations will also fund new scholarships for U of R nursing students. Saunders spoke about the importance of supporting nurses.

“Hopefully at the end of 10 years, we’ll have 25 or 30 RNs that will have come through this program and will help with this dire problem we have with nursing in our community and all over the country, not enough nurses,” Saunders said.

Part of Saunders’ donation will also create a professorship in orthopedics at the School of Medicine and Dentistry. The Saunders Foundation will establish an endowed research fund and an endowed professorship in the Department of Orthopaedics that will be named for Dean’s Professor Michael Maloney, a renowned orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine.

Maloney is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Athleticism Musculoskeletal Performance and Prevention (CHAMPP), which offers a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to athletic performance, injury prevention, and wellness.

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