Rx Society Dedicated to Raising the Bar in Healthcare:
New Members Now Invited

The Roper St. Francis Foundation, the fundraising arm of Roper St. Francis Healthcare, invites individuals and organizations to join its 2007 Roper Xavier or “Rx” Society.  Since its inception in 2005, the members of this annual giving society have raised more than
$7 million to support and enhance healthcare programs and services offered to the community through Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

Those who join by December 31 will be invited to attend an exclusive donor appreciation gala with featured guest speakers Bob and Lee Woodruff to be held Saturday, January 26, 2008 at The Charleston Place hotel. Limited seating is available.

Bob Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and has covered major stories throughout the country and around the world. He was named co-anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight in December 2005. On January 29, 2006, while reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq.

Mr. Woodruff is currently undergoing outpatient rehabilitation in the New York area and has returned to work at ABC News. Earlier this year, Bob and his wife Lee released In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love, Courage, and Healing, their personal memoir about Woodruff’s recovery after his attack in Iraq and the medical and family support that helped him heal.

“The Woodruffs understand the value that quality healthcare brings to our lives and communities. I believe in the Rx Society and know first-hand how patients do benefit,” says John Holloway, Chairman of the Board for the Foundation and a founding member of the Rx Society. “Both of my children were born at St. Francis, and my wife and I have been patients at Roper. St. Francis saved my father’s life following a heart attack.”

“The Rx Society is making a tremendous contribution to the quality of healthcare available in our community, from funding the latest medical technology to providing first rate amenities and support for patients and their families,” added Holloway.

“In its third year, the Rx Society already 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.

Platinum, gold and silver level sponsors for the 2007 Rx Society’s Donor Appreciation Gala are, respectively, Complete Building Corporation, Mr. D. Grant Carwile and Ms. Sharon Watson, and Mark J. Cumins, Jerry Scheer and T-Bonz Restaurant Group.

In 2005, the Society’s primary focus was the new Heart & Vascular Tower at Roper Hospital’s downtown campus. Through the generosity of Rx Society members, the Foundation funded more than $1.1 million in enhancements to the Tower including the surgical pavilion named for Julian T. Buxton Jr., M.D.

In 2006, the Rx Society turned its focus to the Roper St. Francis Cancer Center. Funds were raised in support of a beautiful, new Breast Care Center which opened at Roper Hospital last October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and also the Radiation Oncology Department at Roper Hospital. Foundation support has also helped bring Cyberknife and the da Vinci robot, the latest advances in the fight against cancer, to our area. This technology is available exclusively at Roper St. Francis.

Rx Society members have also provided seed money to begin designing a Meditation Garden to be located under the oaks at the West Ashley campus of Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital. A groundbreaking is slated for this November.

Looking to the future, the Rx Society will lend its support to a new outpatient cancer center to be constructed on the St. Francis campus as well as the new 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. Other initiatives to be funded through the generosity of 2007 Rx Society members include a new cardiac rehab gym at Roper Hospital and nursing scholarships which provide financial assistance and support for students wishing to pursue a degree in nursing as well as current nurses looking to an advanced degree.

For more information or to join the Rx Society, please contact the Roper St. Francis Foundation at (843) 965-8642, or visit our website at www.ropersaintfrancis.com/foundation.  Foundation representatives are also available to speak to interested civic and professional groups.