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Duke Endowment awards $21 million to HSSC The Duke Endowment announced the award of a three-year $21-million grant to Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) Aug. 15 in Columbia. It is the largest award ever made by the 82-year-old private foundation’s health care division.   The historic grant will support the establishment of the Center of Healthcare Quality and Clinical Effectiveness and will enable HSSC to fully develop and implement Centers of Economic Excellence Endowed Chairs programs.   In making the announcement, Duke Endowment Chairman Russell M. Robinson II cited the unique opportunity presented by HSSC, a statewide collaborative between South Carolina’s three research universities, including MUSC, and its four largest health systems, to bring about sweeping change through health sciences research as motivation for the grant.   “The Duke Endowment is pleased to provide the largest single grant ever made in our health care division to Health Sciences South Carolina,” said Robinson. “As clinical effectiveness, patient safety and health care quality have become increasing important areas of focus for the health care industry, so has the endowment’s support of these issues. The great work that currently is being accomplished and the endowment’s new support of HSSC will ultimately make a positive difference in the health status of all South Carolinians now, and for generations to come.”   HSSC Chairman and MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., accepted the award on behalf of the HSSC’s five other partners: Jim Barker, president, Clemson University; Michael Riordan, president and CEO, Greenville Hospital System; Kester Freeman, CEO, Palmetto Health; Ingo Angermeier, president and CEO, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System; and Andrew Sorensen, Ph.D., president, University of South Carolina.   “We would like to express our gratitude for the confidence the Duke Endowment has placed in us,” Greenberg said. “Our goal is to improve the safety, quality and effectiveness of care delivered in our hospitals. We aren’t aware of any other model in the country with such a coordinated statewide effort.   HSSC was established in response to the Centers of Economic Excellence Act passed by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002, which provides incentives for investments in research and technology, according to Greenberg.   “The Duke Endowment grant is the largest single private commitment anticipated to be matched with Research Centers of Economic Excellence funding, and indicates considerable private sector support for our endeavors,” Greenberg said. “The Health Sciences South Carolina member institutions believe that this public-private investment will help propel South Carolina into a national leadership position in the health care arena.”   Each year, the Duke Endowment awards millions of dollars in grants to benefit the people of North and South Carolina in four categories: child care, education, rural churches and health care. Each grant must meet strict criteria and receive approval of the endowment’s board of trustees.   “The trustees were unanimous in the support of this grant,” said William G. Anlyan, M.D., chairman of the Duke Endowment’s health care division. “It confirms our support of the partner hospitals and universities and health care professionals who are working collaboratively and in cooperation on this extraordinary statewide endeavor. The trustees applaud your commitment and vision of working together for the greater good to create a healthier South Carolina.”   The issues of patient safety, clinical effectiveness and health care quality are at the national forefront, and the Duke Endowment’s $21-million grant targeted at advancing research in these areas has captured the attention of other health care organizations, including the Institute of Medicine.   Commenting on the award, Institute of Medicine President Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., said: “This pacesetting gift from the Duke Endowment will help propel South Carolina into the forefront of research on patient safety, clinical effectiveness and quality of health care. The gift is a tribute to the remarkable statewide collaboration among institutions involved in Health Sciences South Carolina and to a shared public-private commitment to improve health care quality and efficiency throughout the state. I salute the leaders of the Duke Endowment and the State of South Carolina for an enterprise that can improve the lives of millions and become a model for the nation.” About HSSC Established in April 2004 by the Greenville Hospital System, MUSC, Palmetto Health and the University of South Carolina, HSSC—the collaborative—was founded with the vision of improving the health and economic well-being of South Carolina through a coordinated effort to advance health sciences research and education. The collaborative, which now includes Clemson University and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, is an inclusive public-private partnership that seeks to bring together research universities, health systems and other partners committed to its vision.   For more information, visit http://www.healthsciencessc.org. About The Duke Endowment Established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, the Duke Endowment is one of the nation’s largest private foundations. Its mission is to serve the people of North  and South Carolina by supporting selected programs of higher education, health care, children’s welfare and spiritual life.   For more information, visit http://www.dukeendowment.org.     Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.