Nicklaus Children’s Hospital officials today announced one of the largest single donations in the hospital’s 72-year history. The $25 million gift from Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin will support the new five-story, 127,000-square-foot surgical tower opening in 2024. In recognition of this historic gift, it will be named the Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower.
Mr. Griffin’s donation will also help fund Nicklaus Children’s four major institutes advancing pediatric care related to the brain, cancer and blood disorders, the heart, and orthopedics.
“This transformational gift will change the future of pediatric care for generations to come and ensure that doctors, nurses, and specialists have the latest technological advances at their fingertips to treat the children we serve,” said Matthew A. Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, the hospital’s parent organization. “We are enormously grateful to Mr. Griffin for this generous donation, which will strengthen our position as the pediatric healthcare leader in the state of Florida.”
The new surgical facility, featuring robotics, virtual and augmented reality, and intraoperative monitoring, as well as expansive surgical suites and improved pre- and post-surgical care spaces, will allow the hospital to provide world-class care in a high-tech, family-friendly environment for decades to come.
“Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is a world leader in healthcare,” said Ken Griffin. “We are so blessed to have such a talented team dedicated to providing the best care to every child. I am honored to support this mission.”
“It warms our hearts when others share our passion for helping children,” said Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, co-founders of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. “Thanks to Ken’s generous gift, any child who needs surgery at Nicklaus Children’s will be able to receive the exceptional care they deserve.”
Uniquely designed for the most complex medical cases, Nicklaus Children’s serves a diverse population of nearly half a million pediatric patients a year, including 100,000 who need emergency attention and many who require life-saving treatment and surgery. With nearly 70% of patients insured by Medicaid, Nicklaus Children’s relies on philanthropic support to provide every child with the best treatment available.
In partnership with the hospital’s foundation, Nicklaus Children’s is embarking on the next phase of its story with a campaign to support the tower and the development of its institutes.
Mr. Griffin’s gift is helping to propel those projects and will make an everlasting impact on pediatric care for children in Florida and beyond.
To learn more about supporting Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, please visit https://give.nicklauschildrens.org.
About Nicklaus Children's Health System Where Your Child Matters Most™ (2026)
For more than 75 years, Nicklaus Children's Health System has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children. Nicklaus Children's provides pediatric care across a growing network of hospital and community-based partnerships, including care within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center, select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units, and Nicklaus Children's Hospital Fort Lauderdale and Nicklaus Children's Hospital Coral Springs each located on the campuses of Broward Health. The hospitals and their network of more than 35 outpatient care locations offer lifesaving care in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin and Palm Beach counties. outpatient locations include an array of urgent care, pediatric primary care and subspecialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS).Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Nicklaus Children's is home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children's Orthopedic, Sports Medicine and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children's Neuroscience Institute and Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute. The 474-bed system is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with more than 40 pediatric specialties and an ambulatory surgery center. For more information, visit nicklauschildrens.org.