$50 million Wolfe gift helps massive Ohio State Wexner Medical Center tower become reality

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center will name two prominent spaces inside its new 26-floor hospital tower after a Columbus family that is making one of the largest charitable gifts in the health system's history.

The Wolfe family will be recognized throughout the hospital thanks to a $50 million donation by the Robert F. Wolfe and Edgar T. Wolfe Foundation to the project.

Those spaces will include the John F. Wolfe Lobby and the Wolfe Foundation Crossroads, a second-floor common space that will act as an "epicenter" of the hospital, said Jay Anderson, Wexner Medical Center chief operating officer.

"The Wolfe family embodies the spirit of public service," Ohio State President Ted Carter said at a press conference Monday morning at the Wexner Medical Center.

The Wolfe family, among other ventures, owned The Dispatch for more than a century. Their family's legacy can be seen throughout the Columbus region, including Wolfe Park, John F. Wolfe Palm House at the Franklin Park Conservatory, and John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons park. Wolfe died in 2016 at age 72.

Wolfe spent more than two decades serving on various boards at Ohio State and its health system. His widow, Ann, also served as a member of the University Hospitals Board and as the longtime chair of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation Board.

Members of the Wolfe family were not present at Monday's press conference but will be in attendance at Thursday's full Ohio State Board of Trustees meeting, where the gift is expected to be approved by trustees.

Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday that he had many opportunities to work with Wolfe over nearly three decades. DeWine said he believes Wolfe would be pleased to know his legacy is "positively influencing the future of health care at the university he loved and the city he helped shape."

“Few people know, or will ever know, even half of the good works John F. Wolfe and Ann Wolfe put their shoulders behind to benefit Columbus and central Ohio. They preferred to be a quiet force for good with lasting impact,” DeWine said.

The hospital tower is the largest construction project in Ohio State's history.

Once completed, the tower will span 1.9 million square feet across 26 floors. It will include more than 800 inpatient beds, 60 neonatal intensive care unit bassinets, diagnostic and treatment service areas, imaging areas, operating rooms and critical care, medical and surgical beds, as well as an indoor café, outdoor park and conference facilities.

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.

shendrix@dispatch.com

@sheridan120

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU Wexner Medical Center receives $50 million gift for medical tower