Children’s Hospital receives gift in honor of Rennebohms

A $1.5 million gift to the new American Family Children’s Hospital from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation will honor University of Wisconsin Foundation president emeritus Robert Rennebohm and his wife Jean.

Construction of the new hospital at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics is slated to begin this fall. The $67 million, 80-bed hospital will open its doors in 2007, providing a greatly enhanced family-centered environment for hospitalized children and their parents. It will abut the existing UW Hospital and Clinics facility on the west side.

A fund-raising campaign for the new children’s hospital was launched in March 2003 with a $10 million gift from American Family Insurance. More than half of the cost of building the American Family Children’s Hospital will come from private support.

Bob Rennebohm graduated from UW–Madison in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. He was the first president of the UW Foundation, serving from 1945 until his retirement in 1988. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1989 from the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Jean Rennebohm has long been a community volunteer and tireless supporter of the university and the Madison community.

The gift from the Rennebohm Foundation will support a new Diagnostic Pavilion that will provide short-term care for children who require sedations, catheterizations, blood transfusions, chemotherapy transfusions and other services that can be completed during the day.

“The University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Madison community have benefited from the leadership and service of Bob and Jean Rennebohm,” Steven Skolaski, president of the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation, says. “It was an outpouring of support from people who love Bob and Jean that prompted the Rennebohm Foundation to make this gift in their honor. We couldn’t think of a more fitting way to show our appreciation for their help and support over the years.”

“We are very grateful to the Rennebohm Foundation for this generous gift,” Donna Sollenberger, president and CEO of UW Hospital and Clinics, says. “The Diagnostic Pavilion made possible by this gift will provide a soothing environment for children undergoing day-long procedures.”

The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation was established in 1949 by Oscar Rennebohm, a successful businessman and former Wisconsin governor who owned the once-largest chain of drug stores in Madison. It supports a wide variety of community projects and agencies and has been a major benefactor of UW–Madison for many years.

More information about the No Finer Gift campaign to build the American Family Children’s Hospital is available by contacting Nancy Francisco-Welke at (608) 263-5960 or at nancy.francisco-welke@uwfoundation.wisc.edu.