Medical School News

Daughter’s $50 million gift in father’s honor names children’s hospital

A gift from Caroline Amplatz, J.D., honors the pioneering legacy of her father, Kurt Amplatz, M.D., a longtime University professor and medical inventor. (Photo: Kristie Anderson)

The University of Minnesota has received a $50 million gift to its children’s hospital from Caroline Amplatz, J.D., in honor of her father, former University professor and medical device pioneer Kurt Amplatz, M.D.

The gift is the second largest in the University’s history. In recognition of the gift, the hospital, which is building a new facility, is now called University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital.

“Thank you for joining me and honoring my father,” Caroline Amplatz said at a February 10 press event. “My hope is that the Amplatz Children’s Hospital will follow in my father’s footsteps with steadfast and unrelenting determination to improve and save lives. If it does, it will be the best in the world.”

Called “the father of interventional radiology” by many, Kurt Amplatz is a pioneer in the use of noninvasive techniques for treating several medical conditions.

“A contemporary of Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Earl Bakken, Kurt Amplatz is a trailblazer and continues to be committed to improving lives through the development of innovative technologies,” says University President Robert Bruininks, Ph.D. “This gift is a tribute to a man who has touched many lives, but also to his daughter, Caroline, her sense of history, and her vision.”

Amplatz was a University radiology professor for four decades and holds more than 30 patents.

The gift from Caroline Amplatz, a member of the University Pediatrics Foundation board and president of two other foundations that support children, will help fund the programs and infrastructure needed to advance pediatric research and care at the Amplatz Children’s Hospital. The new facility, which consolidates the hospital’s 50 pediatric specialties in one location, is scheduled to open by mid-2011.