Sara Jolly has led the pediatric hospital's fundraising team as the Executive Director of Development since March 2019. Most recently, Sara served as interim president of the foundation since November 2021 when the president of Nicklaus Children's Hospital Foundation left the position. She has played an instrumental role in leading the foundation as the organization has been seeking a new chief development officer. Sara has worked tirelessly to ready the organization to launch a proposed $150+ million comprehensive capital campaign. On January 31, 2023, Sara successfully secured the largest single donation in Nicklaus Children's Hospital's 72-year history. The $25 million gift from Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth C. Griffin will support a new five-story, 127,000-square-foot surgical tower opening in 2024.
I was recruited by an old boss/mentor. After a career in hospitality, I finally made the jump to nonprofit work. That's where I found my true passion. Combining nonprofit work with healthcare was the perfect combination for me.
I truly believe it is an honor and a privilege to get to work for my organization. Working alongside our clinicians, patients, and families brings me so much joy. Every day is different and challenging. My boss says I am his "most passionate" employee. Maybe because I still cry all the time. After four and a half years, I still care. It still gets to me. I am so incredibly passionate about what I do. I believe that authenticity really shines through.
The first time I was presenting a million-dollar gift to a family whose granddaughter had received open heart surgery at our hospital. I was pitching renovating our cardiac surgical suite. We were actually supposed to observe an open-heart surgery, but it was postponed last minute for a medical reason. I had to pivot in the 11th hour. I came up with the plan of numbering everything in the operating room. When we walked in the door, it had the number 36 on it. The number of years we had been using that Cardiac OR. The heart and lung machine had a 10 on it. The number of years we had been using that machine though the standard time is 8. We walked all around the room and talked about the corresponding numbers to the equipment in the space. When we got to the operating table it had the number 3,642 on it. That was Ella's number. Their granddaughter had been the 3,642nd patient to be on that table. She now has a lifetime of playing, learning, and growing ahead of her, thanks to the care she received at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. We had medical pictures of her surgery up on the screen. We were all crying. At that moment, I knew how incredibly special it was to be able to support this organization, to help more kids like Ella, and to link the affinity of donors to the needs of the hospital. In that space, between the passion and need is where the magic happens.
When I came to Nicklaus, I recognized a significant gap in families who are underinsured or uninsured. The creation of the Patient Assistance Program truly has been one of my greatest accomplishments. To be able to pay for direct patent care has been such a joy to see flourish at our organization. Our entire organization has really supported this program from the chief executive officer, surgeons, global health, donors, accounting, and countless others. Our people have rallied around helping the most vulnerable patients receive the best care. We have had some amazing cases. A patient who was able to receive surgery and take her first steps in our hospital at 9 years old. A patient who had a 90 degree curvature of her spine who is now standing tall. A patient who 20 hospitals said no to, when we said yes. Who we air lifted to our hospital less than 24 hours before she needed an emergency tracheostomy because the tumor on her face was growing so rapidly that it cut off her airway. These patients. These kids who literally have nowhere else to turn. This year, in Q1, we approved over a million dollars in care. It was the moment I realized this program is working. It is self-sustaining. All of the effort, the meetings, the back and forth with legal and compliance; it was all worth it.
If you truly believe in the mission you are serving, you will never go wrong. It's easy to get caught in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the job. Make sure you take time to visit patients. Talk to families. Submerse yourself. Talk to doctors. Co-workers. Never stop learning.
I love Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.