Editor’s Note: The following is presented as an open letter

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

We are pleased to share with you some great news: The University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (UMCPP) has broken another record, and this time thanks to you — we can now claim the most successful capital campaign in the history of any hospital in New Jersey and of any hospital our size in the nation! Our Design for Healing Campaign raised over $171 million dollars, a record amount which is especially remarkable within the context of the recent Great Recession. The results of our campaign have allowed us to pay for over one third of the construction of our $523 million new hospital through philanthropy alone.

An important point to remember as you consider this recent achievement is that we attained this record because of you and the commitment of our 10,000 donors to making our collective visions of a new hospital not only a reality, but also a dream come true. UMCPP has swiftly become a nationally and internationally recognized landmark. Becker’s Hospital Review [www.beckershospitalreview.com/100-great-hospitals-2013/100-great-hospitals-in-america-2013.html] has just listed UMCPP among the “100 Great Hospitals in the United States,” and a steady stream of international delegations from countries such as China, Canada, Denmark, Russia, Egypt, and Poland have toured UMCPP to learn how they can design and construct their dream hospitals within their own communities.

We appreciate those in the Princeton community who have long supported the medical center. Impressively, more than 1,800 individuals, business and foundations from Princeton alone contributed to this effort. We also give special thanks to the many first-time donors and all of those who shared the vision of building a hospital with the best care, the best setting, and most advanced technology close to home.

On behalf of the Princeton HealthCare System Foundation Board of Directors, the Princeton HealthCare System Board of Trustees, our Medical Staff, and our more than 3,000 employees, we want to express our heartfelt appreciation for the community’s support. Your generosity helped to make the campaign an unprecedented success and enabled us to build a hospital designed and equipped for the future of medicine.

The success of this campaign is clearly an incredible accomplishment for our entire central New Jersey community. Together, we made a substantial investment to ensure outstanding clinical care for all our families for generations to come.

We did it! We made our dream hospital a reality — thanks to you!

Joann Heffernan Heisen, Bob Doll

Co-chairs, the Design for Healing Campaign

Barry S. Rabner

President and CEO, Princeton Health Care System