Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC) announced that longtime supporter and friend Boone Pickens has donated $8 million to TSRHC allowing the hospital to establish a new conference center. The conference center will enable the hospital to consolidate vital activities of teaching, community outreach, and accommodating the more than 40,000 outpatient visits each year. Educating the public about TSRHC is crucial in the hospital’s role of raising funds to care for patients, and ultimately helps continue the hospital’s mission of providing the highest quality of orthopedic care and treatment for children with learning disorders throughout Texas at no cost to patient families.
Boone Pickens is founder and CEO of Dallas-based BP Capital, which manages energy investment funds. BP Capital, which has two of the nation’s most successful investment funds, was established in 1996.
The conference center is part of a $25 million, large-scale renovation, which will have a lasting impact on the lives of thousands of people. TSRHC’s conference space is used by many community organizations, including hospital guests, area nonprofit organizations, and community groups as well as healthcare professionals from around the world. The hospital recently hosted 65 orthopedic surgeons from China. Ultimately, this gift will benefit the more than 16,000 patients and their families, more than 700 staff members, more than 800 volunteers, and more than 16,000 community visitors and friends each year.
“Boone has been a longtime friend and a true believer in the hospital’s mission,” said J. C. Montgomery, Jr., 33°, Grand Cross, president of TSRHC. “We are honored that he has chosen to continue supporting Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children through this beautiful gift. The leadership of the hospital felt it only appropriate that we name the new conference center in honor of Boone Pickens for his passion, integrity, concern for people, and the thousands of lives he has touched.”
Since 2000, Boone Pickens has supported TSRHC, including a $1 million gift to help establish an MRI Center. The Boone Pickens Birthday Fund was endowed by an initial gift of $96,000 from his staff, family and friends in honor of his birthday. Known not only for his personal passion for giving, but also for encouraging others to give back, Pickens continued to inspire his staff and friends to take their own philanthropic gifts to the next level. Because of their efforts, the Boone Pickens Birthday Fund now exceeds more than $1 million. Proceeds from the Birthday Fund are used to support an annual visiting professorship in spine research. The Fund also recognizes two orthopedic fellows for their outstanding research projects. Pickens personally attends an annual luncheon and presents a certificate and cash award to the fellows.
