Inova receives $10M gift from Apex Systems co-founder

Apex Systems co-founder Win Sheridan has made a $10 million planned gift commitment to Inova Health System, Inova announced late Thursday. 

“When you’re battling a serious disease, having world-class care that you don’t have to travel for makes all the difference,” Sheridan said in a statement provided by Inova. “At the end of the day, I want Inova to continue providing the best possible care, if and when it’s needed by me, by my family, my friends [and] my community.”

In 2021, Sheridan gave a $1 million gift to Inova endow the directorship of the Inova Molecular Tumor Board at Inova Schar Cancer Institute. The board is made up of oncologists, geneticists and other health practitioners who work to match patients who have rare or recurring advanced cancers with personalized treatments. 

Sheridan’s latest gift will support Inova’s Greatest Needs fund, which supports critical projects and initiatives identified by Inova’s CEO, Dr. J. Stephen Jones. Currently the fund is being applied toward the expansion of Inova Fairfax Hospital’s emergency room, according to Sage Bolte, chief philanthropy officer and president of the Inova Health Foundation.

“We have seen nearly a 50% increase in patient volume over the last several years, and so the current space doesn’t fit the growing need of our emergency care response,” said Bolte, adding that currently the Inova Fairfax ER has too many patients for all to be accommodated in private rooms. 

The first phase of the $161 million expansion will likely be completed by the end of this year, according to an Inova spokesperson.

A Virginia Tech alumni, Sheridan co-founded Glen Allen-based Apex Systems in 1995 and is a director of ASGN, Apex’s parent company. Apex Systems and ASGN together form one of the nation’s largest IT staffing services. A venture capitalist who has invested in early-stage companies like Sweetgreen, EverFi and DataBricks, Sheridan runs investment and consulting firm BDW Investments. His many ventures include serving as a partner in Alexandria Restaurant Partners, a restaurant management company that owns, operates and/or manages nine restaurants in Virginia and Florida. He is a former chairman of the advisory board for the  APEX Center for Entrepreneurs at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. As a philanthropist, he has supported organizations such as the Yellow Ribbon Fund and the One Campaign.

Bolte declined to state the total amount Sheridan has donated to the health system. 

According to Inova, Sheridan was motivated to give by the $75 million Schar Challenge, made by Northern Virginia philanthropists Dwight and Martha Schar in May 2023 to support the now-renamed Inova Schar Heart and Vascular institute.

Planned gifts like Sheridan’s, Bolte noted, are funds that are “securing for the future of this region. So, for his children and grandchildren [and] beyond, that is going to be a legacy that he continues to give and invest in far beyond the years he’s on this earth.”