June 9, 2022
Buckner Baker Research & Innovation Center Takes Bone & Joint Institute to Next Level
Orthopedic research at Hartford Hospital received a significant endorsement with a multimillion-dollar gift establishing the Beverly Buckner Baker Research and Innovation Center at the Hartford HealthCare Bone & Joint Institute.
“We are so grateful to Beverly Buckner Baker for this gift,” said Bimal Patel, president of Hartford Hospital and senior vice president, Hartford HealthCare.
Her donation to the Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital will propel our research program, fueling innovation and development that will change the lives of patients in our community.
The generous gift establishing the research center was dedicated to Buckner Baker’s late husband, Shepard “Shep” Baker. The donation was also inspired by the outstanding care the couple received over the years at Hartford Hospital.
As Lynn Rossini, Hartford Hospital’s vice president of philanthropy, said, “Beverly has been a dear friend of Hartford Hospital for many years, supporting dozens of initiatives. She is a philanthropist, an amazing friend, a dedicated volunteer, a successful businesswoman.”
Buckner Baker explained that she intends the gift to help increase access to the Bone & Joint Institute’s expertise.
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me,” she said. “I am very proud, humbled, and honored to be able to do something like this.”
We are a community here. We have a special opportunity.
In extending his gratitude for the support, John Grady-Benson, MD, physician-in-chief of the Bone & Joint Institute, said, “This is a turning point in the seven-year history of the Bone & Joint Institute. We have worked hard to get data-driven culture in healthcare. Beverly’s generous gift provides funding for the infrastructure support and data analytics platforms that are essential for providing the best patient experience for every patient.”
The research center is a realization of the founding aspirations for the Bone & Joint Institute, according to Jeffrey A. Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare.
“When Dr. Gordon Zimmermann and I said we’re going to build this, we had a shared vision to create a world-class environment that would bring people from around the world to Hartford,” Flaks said. “We knew we had the DNA because Orthopedic Associates of Hartford, since their founding, always had world-class physicians. We knew we could build this physical environment to attract people from around the world to review and emulate. But the third piece of that vision was to add research and innovation to our DNA. Beverly’s gift allows us to realize the next level of our aspirations, to truly be world-class. And the beneficiaries will be all the citizens of Connecticut. Regardless of means, regardless of background, they will get world-class care here.”