Dayton Childrens President and CEO Deborah Feldman speaks on Monday, April 20 during an annoucement at the hospital’s main campus. The hospital is receiving a $40 million donation from Tom Golisano and is naming its main campus after him. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF
Following a $40 million donation from philanthropist and entrepreneur Tom Golisano, Dayton Children’s Hospital plans to rename its main campus in Dayton to be the Dayton Children’s “Golisano Comprehensive Care Campus.”
“This is about more than a name; it’s about what children and families will experience because of this investment,” said Jena Pado, vice president for Dayton Children’s Foundation and chief development officer. “When we meet families earlier, remove barriers to care and support the whole child, we change lives. That is the legacy this investment represents.”
Golisano is the founder of Paychex, a cloud-based payroll software system for businesses, and he also previously owned a fiber internet provider based in Rochester, New York, called Greenlight Networks from 2019 to 2022. He has a net worth estimated to be between $4.8 billion and $6.9 billion, according to Forbes.
“Children deserve access to the right care before a problem becomes a crisis,” said Golisano. “Dayton Children’s has a clear vision for improving children’s health by reaching families earlier, integrating care and expanding access in the community. This investment supports that vision and helps create a stronger future for children and families across the region. I’m proud to partner with Dayton Children’s to accelerate this important work.”
This investment will go toward a number of Dayton Children’s initiatives of reinventing the path to children’s health, including:
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Primary care as the engine of health: expanding access to pediatric primary care as the most effective way to improve long-term outcomes and intervene early.
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Integrated mental and physical health: addressing the mental health crisis by embedding behavioral health into every aspect of care.
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Care in communities and schools: bringing services closer to where children live, learn and grow to remove barriers and reach families sooner.
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Accountability through outcomes: using data and shared learning to continuously improve, measure impact and scale what works.
“This moment allows us to confront a system that too often rewards care delivered in crisis rather than care that prevents it,” said Deborah Feldman, outgoing CEO and president of Dayton Children’s. “With this investment, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to get upstream, to intervene earlier and to redesign care in a way that supports the whole child. This is how we prevent the preventable and create healthier futures for children and families across our region.”
Children in rural and urban communities have different needs when it comes to accessing care, so while Dayton Children’s leaders have ideas on what to do, Feldman said they plan to work with communities in the region to examine their needs.
“It’s going to be a strategy that focuses on increasing where and how we deliver primary care in order to reach more children,” Feldman said.
Golisano Children’s Alliance
This $40 million donation $125 million initiative to bring three hospitals, including Dayton Children’s, into the Golisano Children’s Alliance, which is a growing national network of children’s hospitals that share the goal of improving pediatric health care.
The other two hospitals joining the group of about another dozen children’s hospitals — mostly based on the east coast as the alliance grows to the west and south — include Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, which will receive $50 million, and Avera Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which will receive $35 million.
“All three of these hospitals provide outstanding care for the children in their communities, and we look forward to seeing what they can do with the added resources being a member of the Golisano Children’s Alliance provides,” said Golisano. “As a father and grandfather, nothing brings me greater joy than seeing how better access to health care improves the lives of children and their families.”
Golisano is continuing to build relationships with children’s hospitals across the country, with a long-term goal of expanding the Golisano Children’s Alliance to 40 hospitals over the next several years. More hospital partnerships are expected to be announced in the coming year.
“We’re excited to expand the Golisano Children’s Alliance once again,” said Erica Dayton, executive director for the Golisano Foundation. “Millions of children will have better access to state-of-the-art healthcare close to their homes thanks to these donations and the close collaboration and connection the alliance creates between hospitals that join the network.”
The Golisano Children’s Alliance was founded in October 2025 when Golisano expanded his support of children’s hospitals with a philanthropic commitment totaling $403 million. Monday’s announcement brought Golisano’s total giving toward this initiative to $578 million.
