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Tag: Dwight Schar

Inova raises $83M to match Schars’ $75M gift

Inova Health System has raised $83 million over the past year, surpassing the “Schar Challenge” issued by donors Dwight and Martha Schar when they made a $75 million matching gift to Inova in May 2023.

The Schars’ most recent gift to support Inova’s heart and vascular services and the gifts to match it made by more than 10,000 donors brings the Falls Church-based health system’s total raised over the past year to $158 million, according to a Thursday news release.

Dwight Schar founded Reston-based Fortune 500 company NVR, one of the nation’s largest mortgage bankers and homebuilders, which operates under the Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Heartland Homes brands. Since 1993, the Schars have donated more than $126 million to Inova, including $50 million in 2015 to establish the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, the hospital system’s Fairfax County hub for cancer treatment and clinical trials, which opened in 2019.

“We are deeply grateful to Dwight and Martha Schar for their extraordinary generosity and powerful call to action, and also to our Northern Virginia community who, together, donated more than $80 million to Inova in just one year,” Inova President and CEO Dr. J. Stephen Jones said in a statement. “This tremendous achievement is a reflection of a community that cares deeply about having world-class health care locally. It’s a profound vote of trust and a testament to the spirit of giving that defines our Inova community.”

“Early on in this challenge, Martha and I shared our belief in the power of a single act of generosity to spark a wave of transformation — and our community has stepped up in a big way to show this is possible,” Dwight Schar said in a statement. “This is an important step, and I’ll say again: nothing is more important than having world-class health care available to every person in our community.”

Schar, 82, retired as NVR’s chair in 2022, after having previously served also as CEO. Since its founding in 1980, NVR has grown to employ more than 6,000 people, and for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023, it reported $9.79 billion in revenue.

“Health care is No. 1 in my books; there’s nothing more important you can offer the community,” Schar told Virginia Business earlier this year. “The metropolitan Washington area has been very good to me and my business, so this is where I feel I can do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”

Inova provides more than 4 million patient visits a year and employs more than 24,000 people across five hospitals and dozens of other facilities, including 37 primary care clinics and Northern Virginia’s only state-designated and nationally verified Level 1 trauma center.

Inova receives $75M donation for heart, vascular programs

Northern Virginia philanthropists Dwight and Martha Schar have made a $75 million matching gift to support Inova Health System’s heart and vascular treatment programs, Inova announced Tuesday. The Schars have donated a total of $126 million to the Falls Church-based health system since 1993, including $50 million in 2015 to establish Fairfax County’s Inova Schar Cancer Institute.

The Schars’ gift will be used to focus on research, outreach, prevention and early diagnosis of cardiovascular ailments, including hiring more health care professionals and growing specialty services in what will be called Inova Schar Heart and Vascular, as well as promoting health equity in Northern Virginia, the health system said in its announcement. The Schars challenged the community to match their pledge, which is among the largest in the nation to benefit cardiovascular medical treatments.

“The investment Martha and I made to support Inova’s vision for a world-class cancer center was one of the best investments of my life,” said Dwight Schar, who founded Reston-based Fortune 500 homebuilding and mortgage banking business NVR Inc. and retired last year as its chair. “We truly believe Inova provides exceptional quality of care and an exceptional patient experience, and we want everyone in our community to have access to this world-class care in their own backyard. Having the very best cancer care here in Northern Virginia has provided thousands of families facing a cancer diagnosis the ability to receive life-saving care close to home, and now we’re hoping to do the same for heart health. Today we’re investing again in Inova’s vision, and we know that Inova will exceed our expectations. We are also calling on the people of Northern Virginia to match our gift over the next year. We all need to invest in our community’s health care.”

The Schars’ donation will benefit Inova services including advanced heart failure and lung disease care; minimally invasive cardiac surgery; vascular medicine and surgery; women’s heart health research; and wellness and prevention, including health education and access to care.

“Countless lives will be transformed by this remarkable gift as it allows Inova to push the boundaries of medical research, innovation and patient care,” said Inova President and CEO Dr. J. Stephen Jones. “We are grateful for this generous donation by Dwight and Martha Schar. It will have a lasting impact on heart health and will accelerate the trajectory of our mission to provide world-class health care to everyone, in every community we have the privilege to serve — one heartbeat at a time.”

Inova, which employs more than 20,000 people, has five hospitals in Northern Virginia, including the region’s only Level 1 trauma center, and plans for the new $1 billion Inova Alexandria Hospital at the former Landmark Mall were approved in March by the Alexandria City Council. The medical campus is expected to open in 2028.