Dan and Jennifer Gilbert are pledging nearly $400 million to help build a new facility at Henry Ford Hospital.
The gift honors their late son Nick, who died from neurofibromatosis in May.
The money is going in two primary care directions, with the first being a new 72-bed medical facility that deals with physical medicine and rehab, something Dan knows all too well after he suffered a stroke.
The pledge from the Gilbert Family Foundation to Henry Ford comes on top of the $500 million the Gilberts have already pledged to the city of Detroit.
The money that is going to the medical system comes from the personal pain and grief the family has been through.
“When I suffered my stroke back in 2019, I sought out the best care in the country and found it at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago,” said Dan.
Dan’s bringing a Shirley Ryan Ability Lab to Detroit as part of Henry Ford to help those recovering from a stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other conditions.
“While I was there, I met many other patients who could not get all of the rehabilitative care that they needed their insurance limited the number of hours covered,” Dan said. “This is too often an experience for Detroiters as well.”
To that end, the Gilberts are giving $10 million to establish a fund to help low-income patients get the help they need.
The second part of the landmark gift is to help those with neurofibromatosis, which their son Nick suffered from. He passed away in May.
“Detroit will also become the leader in neurofibromatosis research through the establishment of the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Research Institute, which is named in honor of our son, who passed away from complications in May.”
The completion is expected to be built out until in 2029.
