Citadel’s CEO donated $25 million to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami.

MIAMI (WSVN). Crews have been hard at work rekindling hope at Niklaus Children’s Hospital.

Jack and Barbara Nicklaus were on campus themselves on Tuesday morning to make a life-changing announcement.

“The chance of a healthy life for a child is the greatest gift you can give to a family,” Jack said.

Billionaire and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin has made a historic $25 million donation to Children’s Hospital, one of the largest single donations ever received.

“Ensuring that all children have access to high-quality health care has been my priority for many years, and today I am honored to play a role in the important work of this incredible institution,” said Griffin.

The money will be used for a state-of-the-art surgical tower that the hospital says will change pediatric surgery in South Florida.

Matthew Love, president of the hospital, described the interior of the new building.

“The new surgical tower will be finished next year,” he said. “These operating rooms will be large and extensive, we will have the best technology. We already have the best surgeons, nurses and staff, but this will really raise the bar in Florida and the country for modern pediatric surgery.”

This will help families with children who have undergone complex operations, for example, on the heart and brain.

The new addition, called the Kenneth S. Griffin Surgical Tower, will have 12 operating rooms, pre-op, post-op, and waiting rooms, augmented reality surgical technologies, robotics and intraoperative monitoring, and more advanced technologies.

“It’s definitely a very, very happy feeling,” Love said.

Families like Farrow were cared for at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital when their baby Kai needed open-heart surgery when he was just two weeks old.

“It was a terrible time. Unfortunately, Kai developed heart failure, which we did not foresee, ”said Jackie. “The surgical team, the intensive care team, they all acted quickly, and they did the operation on him, and now it’s like nothing happened.”

Watching the donation gives hope to the family that more families will be touched by the miracles performed here.

“I think it’s just nice to give back and see that hope given to other families,” Rob said.

A new tower is currently under construction.

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