Philanthropy in Action at Lankenau Medical Center

The million-dollar thank you: Grateful patients provide student debt aid for nurses at Lankenau Medical Center

A nurse going through costly in vitro fertilization treatments. A recent nursing school graduate debating if he will ever be able to afford an advanced degree. A nurse manager, a decade in but still paying off school loans, caring for her elderly mother who just had a stroke.

These are just a few examples of the hardworking Lankenau Medical Center nurses who were thrilled to receive assistance with their student loans thanks to the incredible generosity of a local couple. The donors, grateful patients themselves, were inspired to make the gift after experiencing exceptional nursing care during several inpatient stays at Lankenau. They described the nurses they encountered as “the best part of the experience.”

The million-dollar gift was announced in October 2024, and nearly 180 nurses were awarded this special funding — up to $3,600 this year to assist with the costs of their student loans. In late 2025, a new application cycle will open to support an additional cohort of nurses. And the idea is spreading: a donor was inspired by this generous gift to fund a similar program providing student loan debt relief for nurses at Paoli Hospital!

When Lankenau nurses learned they would receive tuition aid, many were stunned. Some were moved to tears. But perhaps one nurse summed it up best: “We give so much of ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally every day. To be recognized for these sacrifices has been incredibly moving. Every one of us is extremely grateful for this phenomenal gift.”

Education, research and innovation

Giving to medical research, training programs and technology is an investment in the future of medicine — and the power of working together to solve medical problems of today and tomorrow.

This past year, some of the ways our donors fueled progress at Lankenau included:

• Providing funding to the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, where scientists and clinicians collaborate to pursue breakthroughs in promising areas like regenerative medicine, autoimmune diseases, oncology, cardiology, and more.
• Establishing the Robert D. Smink Surgical Training Endowment Fund, which supports the growth of our surgical training program, fostering excellence and innovation.
• Supporting local medically underserved patients through the Lankenau Initiative to Improve Cardiovascular Access, which works to ensure all patients have access to the resources they need to recover from significant cardiac events and remain healthy, with the goal to improve long-term outcomes and save lives.
• Funding a medical mission to Ghana, Africa in March 2025, which enabled a 35-member team of Lankenau physicians and staff to treat more than 1,200 outpatients, perform 60 surgeries, deliver health education to over 400 high school students, and hold career guidance sessions for more than 500 college students.

Remembering Barbara 'Bobbi' Brodsky

This year, Main Line Health lost a visionary leader and long-time benefactor in the passing of Barbara 'Bobbi' Brodsky (shown in photo, above on left, with Jen Caviglia, Director of Development, Lankenau Medical Center). More than a generous donor, Bobbi was a decades-long partner whose extraordinary generosity, deep personal commitment and passionate advocacy shaped our hospitals and touched countless lives.

Bobbi made investments in cancer and cardiac care, pediatric services, surgical innovation, medical education, and patient experience. Many of her most notable contributions enabled the construction or renovation of major facilities, including the Barbara Brodsky Comprehensive Breast Center and the Lori Beth Brodsky Pediatric Wing at Bryn Mawr Hospital, and the Brodsky Suites, Hybrid Operating Room, and Radiation Oncology Suites at Lankenau Medical Center. Bobbi invested in people, too, endowing fellowships in the areas of breast oncology, minimally invasive surgery and electrophysiology; endowing a fund to sustain volunteer awards; and establishing the Brodsky Chief of Surgery Endowed Chair, currently held by Ned Carp, MD.

We are profoundly grateful for Bobbi's transformational, unflagging support that has shaped Lankenau Medical Center, Main Line Health, and this region in lasting ways.