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ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ trustee and alumna, Robin Kanarek BSN ’96, of the Kanarek Family Foundation has made a leadership gift in the amount of $2.5 million, to found the Kanarek Center for Palliative Care Nursing Education, which will be housed in the newly renamed Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Palliative care programs and services benefit patients who have a life threatening illness and who require supportive care, pain and symptom management from a multidisciplinary healthcare team to enhance quality of life.

“At the Egan School, we strive to ensure that all our graduates receive essential palliative care education and clinical experiences, to ensure quality of life for patients and families,” said Meredith Wallace Kazer PhD, APRN, FAAN, Dean and Professor of the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies. “We are very grateful to the Kanarek family whose generous gift will ensure that our graduates and members of our partnering community will have the critical resources needed to become palliative care-ready.”

"As the director for this innovative center, I look forward to not only enriching our student's learning experience, but also promoting palliative care education within the state of Connecticut and beyond. We are most appreciative to the Kanarek family for affording the Egan School of Nursing the opportunity to be leaders in this national movement,” said Associate Professor, Eileen R. O'Shea, DNP, APRN, PCNS-BC, who will lead the new center.

The Center’s doors will open in Fall 2017 and will offer a comprehensive curriculum that will provide nursing professionals the education needed to effectively practice palliative care and improve the quality of life for those suffering from serious or life threatening illnesses.

The donation is part of the University’s $160 million Fairfield Rising capital campaign. In addition to the Kanarek Center, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ Trustee William P. Egan ’67 and his wife Jacalyn announced a $10 million gift to rename the University’s nursing school, the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, in honor of Mr. Egan’s mother. Ground was broken on the expanded health studies facility on April 21, 2016.

Both Mr. Egan and Ms. Kanarek have made generous donations in the past. The University’s Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius of Loyola was so named in recognition of a gift by Mr. Egan in memory of his parents, John and Marion Egan. The Robin Kanarek Learning Resource Center is a simulated hospital environment in the Egan School of Nursing, made possible through a donation from Mrs. Kanarek, who is a registered nurse.