$5 million gift benefits Hershey center

The University's Hershey Medical Center recently received its second largest gift ever.

The Eberly Family Foundation donated $5 million to the center for medical research and the development of a new method of surgical training, according to a news release from the Office of Public Information.

"This most recent act of generosity from the Eberlys comes at a critical time for medical research," said University President Graham Spanier in the news release. "Nationally, there is an unprecedented need to increase the effectiveness of medical care, and at the same time to hold down the cost of that care. This gift addresses both of those challenges."

Foundation President Robert E. Eberly said $4 million will create a fund called the Eberly Medical Research Innovation Fund that will help turn research into treatments. The additional $1 million will support the Virtual Hospital, in which medical students use computer technology and virtual reality to simulate surgery without risk to human life.

"We are excited by the fine work being done at the Hershey Medical Center," Eberly said. "And we are confident that our support will be used to benefit humanity in ways that we cannot even envision now."

This gift to the center is second only to the $50 million gift by the Milton S. Hershey Trust and Foundation that was used to establish the center in 1963.