Rx Society Donor Appreciation Gala to Feature Tom Brokaw

Charleston, SC – The Roper St. Francis Foundation is pleased to announce that legendary TV broadcaster and former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw will be its featured guest speaker at the Roper Xavier (Rx) Society’s 2008 Donor Appreciation Gala to be held Saturday, January 24, 2009 at The Charleston Place Hotel. Brokaw’s presentation is titled "An Anchorman’s Look at the World."

The Foundation, which serves as the fundraising arm of Roper St. Francis Healthcare, invites individuals and organizations to join its annual giving society. Those who join by December 31, 2008 will be invited to attend this exclusive donor appreciation gala with Brokaw. Limited seating is available.

For 21 years, Brokaw served as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News.  He has covered every presidential election since 1968, and most recently served as moderator for the second in a series of three Presidential debates between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Brokaw became the moderator on Meet the Press in June 2008. He will hold this position through the 2008 presidential election.

Through the years, Brokaw has won numerous honors, awards and accolades for his news and documentary reporting, earning an impressive and historic record of journalistic "firsts” along the way. Among them, he was the first American news anchor to report that the war with Iraq had begun, the first and only anchor to report from the scene the night the Berlin Wall fell, and the first American anchor to travel to Tibet to report on human-rights abuses and interview the Dalai Lama.

In 1998, Brokaw became a best-selling author with the publication of The Greatest Generation. His most recent book, released in November 2007, is titled Boom- Personal Reflections on the 60’s and Today.

Brokaw began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska.   He anchored the late evening news on Atlanta's WSB-TV in 1965 before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.  He was hired by NBC News in 1966 and from 1976-1981 he anchored NBC News' Today program.

Brokaw follows previous Rx Society Gala featured guests and speakers: Mary Matalin and James Carville in 2005, General Colin Powell in 2006 and ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee in 2007.

Each year, the Donor Appreciation event is underwritten by individual and corporate sponsorships. This year’s presenting, Platinum-level sponsor is Moore & Van Allen. Silver sponsors include Wachovia Bank, Morrison Management Specialist, Inc. and Robins & Morton. Complete Building Corporation, Dixon Hughes PLLC, Production Design and Associates and WCBD News 2 join as Bronze sponsors of the event.

“Now, in its fourth year, the Rx Society has an impressive track record of raising the bar in healthcare, and we’re tremendously thankful to our donors for their generosity and vision,” said David L. Dunlap, President and Chief Executive Officer for Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

Since its inception in 2005, Rx Society members have raised more than $17 million to support and enhance healthcare programs and services offered to the community through Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

“The Rx Society is making a tremendous contribution to the quality of healthcare in our community, from funding the latest medical technology to providing first rate amenities and support for patients and their families,” said John Holloway, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Foundation and a founding member of the Rx Society. “I believe in the Rx Society, and I’ve seen first-hand how patients really do benefit,” added Holloway.

In 2005, the Society’s primary focus was the new Heart & Vascular Tower at Roper Hospital’s downtown campus. In 2006, the Rx Society turned its attention to the Roper St. Francis Cancer Center. Rx Society members have also provided funding for a Meditation Garden that’s currently under construction under the oaks at the West Ashley campus of Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. This new garden is slated to open in 2009.

Looking to the future, the Rx Society plans to lend its support to a new outpatient cancer center to be constructed on the St. Francis campus as well as the new Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital, an 85-bed full service medical facility set to open in November 2010 in the Carolina Park development adjacent to Wando High School. Donors have the opportunity to fund themed gardens on the hospital campus there.

Other initiatives to be funded through the generosity of Rx Society members include Nursing Scholarships, which provide financial assistance and support for students wishing to pursue a degree in nursing as well as experienced nurses seeking an advanced degree, and a renovated and expanded Cardiac Rehab Gym at Roper Hospital.

“It’s important to note that the new Cardiac Rehab gym at Roper is entirely dependent upon philanthropy, ” said Holloway. “This project is on the drawing board, but will only happen through the generosity of donors.”

For more information or to join the Rx Society, please contact the Roper St. Francis Foundation at 843-720-1205, or visit our website at http://www.ropersaintfrancis.com/foundation. Foundation representatives are also available to speak to interested civic and professional groups.

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The Roper St. Francis Healthcare Mission:

Healing All People with Compassion, Faith and Excellence.