Unprecedented Commitments Totaling $75 Million
Will Fund Clinical, Research, Capital and Education Initiatives
Mason, OH – Dec. 18, 2017 — Lindner Center of HOPE, a nonprofit comprehensive mental health center based in Greater Cincinnati that serves people from around the world, today announced it has received what are believed to be two of the nation’s largest individual commitments ever made for behavioral health programs.
Totaling $75 million, Cincinnati business leaders and philanthropists Linda and Harry Fath have pledged a $50 million challenge gift, while Frances and Craig Lindner have made a $25 million commitment to meet this challenge. The commitments, to be given over their lifetimes, are the largest ever received by the Center.
The need is critical as mental health disorders nationally affect more people than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined.1 However, research and access to treatment are severely underfunded in comparison.
“My family believes in the power of the Lindner Center of HOPE to help Americans and people from around the world who have lost hope,” Mr. Fath said. “It is time to break the silence associated with mental health and recognize much more must be done to understand, treat, and care for people with mental illnesses. We challenge others to help this incredible organization offer more people the care they deserve now and in the future.”
Mr. Fath, a lawyer and entrepreneur, is owner of Fath Properties, a real estate management firm based in Cincinnati. Mr. Lindner is co-CEO and co-president of American Financial Group.
“Frances and I were so moved by the incredible generosity of Linda and Harry Fath that we decided to contribute an additional $25 million to the endowment fund,” said Mr. Lindner, who founded the Lindner Center of HOPE along with his wife, Frances. “Our hope is that others will be inspired to join us in the effort to help more people on the road to mental wellness through the Lindner Center of HOPE.”
Gift to Support Clinical, Capital and Public Education Programs
“One in five American adults experiences a mental illness.2 It is the leading public health issue in our nation,” said Paul E. Keck, Jr., MD, president and CEO of the Lindner Center of HOPE. “The Faths’ and Lindners’ generosity will kick-start our ability to enhance our staff, create new treatment programs, and expand our research efforts to break new ground in mental health treatment.”
The gifts will support the development and expansion of clinical programs to provide treatment for conditions including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, substance use, and eating disorders. It will help fund research, professional education, and capital improvements at the Center.
A portion of the gifts will be earmarked to provide patient financial assistance and public outreach to reduce stigma. According to Dr. Keck, significant challenges still exist to fight the stigma associated with mental illness, including in the level of reimbursement provided by the federal government and private insurance carriers for mental health disorders – a significant barrier for many people to be able to access care.
National Scope, International Reach
The Lindner Center of HOPE has served nearly 30,000 patients from all 50 states and from countries around the world. The Lindner Center of HOPE’s Research Institute is a lead contributor in groundbreaking programs, such as the Mayo Clinic’s Individualized Medicine Biobank for Bipolar Disorder, which is studying the connection between gene types and medicines that treat disease.
The Center is a charter member of the National Network of Depression Centers, a non-profit system of leading clinical and academic centers working to transform the field of depressive illnesses and related mood disorders.
About the Lindner Center of HOPE
Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason is a comprehensive mental health center providing patient-centered, scientifically advanced care for individuals suffering with mental illness. A state-of-the-science, mental health center and charter member of the National Network of Depression Centers, the Center provides psychiatric hospitalization and partial hospitalization for individuals age 12-years-old and older, outpatient services for all ages, diagnostic and short-term residential services for adults and adolescents, outpatient services for substance abuse through HOPE Center North location and co-occurring disorders for adults and research. The Center is enhanced by its partnerships with UC Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as their clinicians are ranked among the best providers locally, nationally and internationally. Learn more at LindnerCenterofHope.org.
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1 Scientific American, July 14, 2017. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/mental-illness-is-far-more-common-than-we-knew/
2 National Association on Mental Illness https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/Infographics/GeneralMHFacts.pdf
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