Generosity through Generations

It was 1959 when William H. McCoy, investment broker and former industrialist, stepped up to chair the $2.5 million fundraising campaign that would help build a new Saint Anthony Hospital on an undeveloped stretch of East State Street, east of Alpine Road, in Rockford – where OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center now stands.

In recognition of Mr. McCoy’s important contribution to the OSF Mission and in honor of her father, Mrs. Anne Nagan and her husband, Mark, donated $500,000 from a McCoy endowment to renovate Saint Anthony’s main patient admittance counter and reception area.

The “William H. and Catherine C. McCoy Main Lobby” was dedicated during a ceremony recently at the medical center.

"My grandmother was a nurse and she was always very loyal to Saint Anthony's," says Anne Nagan, McCoy endowment benefactor. "And I had a great uncle who was a doctor with Saint Anthony's - way back. So, anyway, it's been a family tradition." 

“The OSF Foundation is very grateful for this generous gift from Mrs. and Mr. Nagan,” says Jarid Funderburg, strategic philanthropy officer for OSF HealthCare Foundation.

Karen Brown, Vice President of Operations for OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center calls the McCoy and Nagan legacy to the OSF Mission "exceptional." 

"It is truly meaningful to have that continuity of the family staying in the community and the investment in Saint Anthony Medical Center," says Karen Brown, Vice President of Operations for OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center. "It means that we will be able to continue to provide for patients that we've been before and for many years to come." 

The Nagan donation, which comes from an endowment established by the McCoy's through the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, also includes a $3-million pledge in support of scholarships for OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony College of Nursing students.

"Ninety-five percent of the annual distributions would be transferred into a permanent scholarship endowment," says Jon Bates, President of Community Foundation of Northern Illinois. "So, over time, that will grow and then it too will make annual distribution which will go to the College of Nursing. College of Nursing will decide what the best way to use those scholarship dollars are for the students."

The patient admittance counter and reception area renovations were part of the recently completed $85-million North Tower medical center addition that opened in April.