WesternU to receive $22.5 million donation from FamilyCare, Inc. for a new behavioral health college | News

Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) will receive a 22.5-million-dollar donation from FamilyCare, Inc., the largest gift in the University’s 45-year history. The donation will help WesternU expand the COMP-Northwest campus and launch a behavioral health college in Lebanon, Oregon. Dr. Jeff Heatherington, president of FamilyCare Health and president and CEO of The Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care said the Heatherington Foundation will donate 150 acres of land to WesternU to build the new campus.

LEBANON, Ore., April 1, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) will receive a 22.5-million-dollar donation from FamilyCare, Inc., the largest gift in the University’s 45-year history. The donation will help WesternU expand the COMP-Northwest campus and launch a behavioral health college in Lebanon, Oregon. Dr. Jeff Heatherington, president of FamilyCare Health and president and CEO of The Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care said the Heatherington Foundation will donate 150 acres of land to WesternU to build the new campus.

“On behalf of the WesternU Board of Trustees, I’d like to thank FamilyCare and Dr. Jeff Heatherington for his service to WesternU and dedication to promoting health and creating healthy communities,” said WesternU Board of Trustees Chair Elizabeth Zamora, MBA. “WesternU and The Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care share a common passion for enhancing equity in health care and offering transformational health care opportunities that unite communities and provide access to health care for all populations.”

“It is an honor, pleasure, and privilege to partner with an extraordinary visionary such as Dr. Heatherington. This transformative gift and donation of land is timely for WesternU COMP-Northwest which is at an inflection point in our exceptional history,” said WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA. “We stand poised to build upon the legacy of our WesternU founders and upon our unique brand of humanism, whole body, mind, and spirit as applied to the unique and high-quality graduate education in a new college dedicated to behavioral health.”

“I am excited to have seen the development and expansion of the osteopathic medical school, COMP-Northwest, over the years. It continues to develop highly-qualified and desperately-needed physicians for the northwest every year,” Heatherington said. “Their Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program is at capacity in its current location, and this gift will create a new and expanded Campus for COMP-NW and a behavioral health college to provide equally needed and critical behavioral health services.”

Dr. Heatherington’s companies have donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarships to WesternU COMP-Northwest, including the J. Scott Heatherington, DO and the Arthur Rott, DO Scholarship, the Medical Anatomy Center, research projects, and other programs.

“We are so grateful that Dr. Heatherington has provided longstanding support for COMP-Northwest. These gifts set the stage for innovation and education in health care that benefits the entire Northwest,” said Paula Crone, DO ’92, COMP-Northwest Dean and Vice President of WesternU Oregon. “While the new campus is in its preliminary planning stage, we envision it emphasizing behavioral health, rural health, population health, and osteopathic primary care – all critical health care needs. This generous gift will greatly enhance WesternU’s presence in the Pacific Northwest and services for our students, alumni, and our communities.”

Media Contact

Barbara O’Malley, Western University of Health Sciences, 720-616-9414, [email protected]

SOURCE Western University of Health Sciences