Patients and families gathered at Connecticut Children's in Hartford to flip a seven-foot-tall ceremonial light switch, illuminating a new hospital sign and marking the public launch of a $250 million fundraising campaign called 100% In It for Kids. The event also celebrated a $50 million donation that will help open the new Golisano Medical Center on Washington Street.
The campaign, one of the largest in the hospital's history, aims to raise $250 million total, according to WTNH. Funds raised will go toward pediatric research, mental health services and expanded care, the station reported, building on momentum from the hospital's recent growth in Hartford.
A CEO's Pitch to Keep Care Close to Home
Connecticut Children's President and CEO Shannon Sullivan framed the campaign as a way to deepen services the hospital already offers rather than start from scratch. According to the station's report, Sullivan said the effort builds on programs already in place: “we are already building on the already successful clinical programs that we have and to support more programs so the kids in this community do not need to go out of state.”
That goal of keeping families from traveling out of state for specialized pediatric care has been a recurring theme in the hospital's recent expansion. Connecticut Children's opened a $326 million clinical tower in Hartford in December 2025, which the Hartford Courant described as marking the opening of a major new expansion for pediatric health care in the region.
A Growing Pattern of Major Gifts
The Golisano Medical Center name itself traces back to a historic donation. Connecticut Children's announced in October 2025 that philanthropist Tom Golisano gave $50 million to name the hospital's Hartford medical center, a gift the organization called the single largest in the health system's history at the time, per Connecticut Children's. That 2025 gift was described as expanding pediatric access and strengthening the hospital's ability to bring specialists, technology, research and Child Life services closer to home.
The campaign's broad funding priorities — pediatric research, mental health services and expanded care — echo similar goals seen at comparable children's hospitals around the country.
How It Compares to Other Pediatric Campaigns
Connecticut Children's $250 million target puts it in the same range as fundraising pushes at other regional children's hospitals. Akron Children's launched its own $250 million “Come Grow With Us” campaign, which it described as a comprehensive effort to advance pediatric health care and help ensure every child can access extraordinary care close to home, according to Akron Children's. That hospital reported having raised $140 million toward its goal at the time of its announcement, with funds earmarked for expanded pediatric specialty care, behavioral health, nursing excellence, community health and patient and family engagement.
An even larger gift landed in Boston, where the Celtics and Boston Children's Hospital announced a $200 million donation that NBC Boston called historic and unprecedented. That funding was slated to support a pediatric mental health facility, research into emerging childhood disease therapies, advanced training for pediatric nurses, an innovation fund and family-centered programs, according to NBC Boston.
Why Mental Health Funding Matters in Connecticut
The emphasis on mental health services in Connecticut Children's new campaign lands against a backdrop of rising need among the state's youngest residents. A report found that Connecticut emergency departments see 16 children a day for self-harm or suicidal ideation, the Hartford Courant reported. The same report found that 62% of Connecticut children who died by suicide in 2025 were under age 15, compared with 34% in the four previous years.
Those figures were not tied directly to Connecticut Children's campaign announcement, but they underscore the kind of demand the hospital's expanded mental health funding is meant to address. For now, the hospital's focus remains on the Hartford campus itself, where the newly lit sign and the freshly announced $50 million donation mark the public start of a fundraising effort organizers hope will reshape pediatric care across the state.
