John Hopkin's Hospital was given an amazing surprise when a generous donation of $15 million was handed to them by philanthropist David M. Rubenstein. The $15 million will go into creating a better facility for hearing centers in the hospital focused on restoring functional hearing. Rubenstein is a co-CEO of The Carlyle Group and the donation will be heading to the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine announced on Tuesday that the patient care clinical space for the otology clinic at the John Hopkins Outpatient Center will be renamed to David M. Rubenstein Hearing Center. The donation will help in creating new programs, enhance the existing programs and it will help any studies and start-ups the staff, students and administration will be doing in the future. John Hopkins will assuredly use the money into restoring hearing for people who have congenital and acquired hearing loss.
"This gift represents an important commitment to improve the health and well-being of our community and, ultimately, the world," Paul B. Rothman, M.D., dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said. John Hopkins has one of the leading research facilities on different aspects of medicine in the entire world. Donation such as what Rubenstein gave John Hopkins will keep it as one of the premier institution for cutting-edge research.
Hearing loss is a big concern in the medical field, especially in the United States. It's extremely widespread and it diminishes the quality of life. American ages 65 to 74 are 25 percent without good hearing and a staggering 50 percent who are 75 and older are suffering the debilitating effects of hearing loss. Even the young people in America have high chances of acquired hearing loss due to noise exposure. Hearing loss has also a large effect on the productivity and tax revenues in the U.S., with an approximate $120 billion to a $180 billion annual cost.
