For Severna Park resident Ken Gill, it was not enough to thank the doctors at Anne Arundel Medical Center and walk away.
Instead, ever since he was successfully treated for prostate cancer 15 years ago, Gill has been planning to give back to the institution that saved his life.
Gill and his wife, Joanne, recently donated $1 million to the Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation, funds they designated for the hospital's "personal navigator" program.
Run by nurses, the program supports, mentors and educates patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, which the American Cancer Society ranks as the second-most-common type of cancer found in men.
"I wanted to help men and their families go through the very emotional process of deciding what their treatment options are," said Gill, 67, a father of three.
Diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in 1990, Gill said he was blessed to have a physician, urologist Dr. George W. Yu, who caught his cancer "just in the nick of time" and informed him of his treatment options.
That's why the Gills decided against handing the hospital a check, and elected to work with the staff to develop the unique program.
"It was a substantial gift, but it was also brilliant of the Gills to target it at education and support," said Linda W. Ferris, a hospital planning executive who directs the cancer initiative. "The treatment decisions are complex and diverse for prostate cancer, and Ken saw there was a need for patient support.
"Mr. Gill is very thoughtful and reflective - he cares deeply about people who are going through this process."
Born and raised in Maryland, Gill graduated from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College), where he played football. He then spent two years in the Army as an officer with the 101st Airborne Division and went on to work for a company that manufactured supermarket equipment.
The job inspired him to start his own business in 1973, a Crofton-based company that equips kitchens in large facilities such as sports centers and military bases. He also owns a trade magazine in Chicago and the Arundel Golf Park in Glen Burnie.
Gill said he began laying the groundwork for his donation five years ago when he and his wife created the Ken and Joanne Gill Charitable Foundation. Conversations with doctors such as Yu inspired their idea of a specific support system for victims of prostate cancer, which kills approximately 30,350 men a year.
When Gill approached Anne Arundel Medical Center with the idea, staff members said they were both impressed and grateful.
"Every once in a while, hospitals are fortunate enough to receive transformational gifts - those that change a program," said Lisa Hillman, senior vice president and chief development officer for Anne Arundel Medical Center. "That's what this one has done. Through it, we're able ... to directly affect the lives of thousands of people."
Gill said that it was not only his experience with the disease that inspired the gift, but also his upbringing.
"I grew up in a middle-class family, but I had wonderful parents who instilled in me the concept of giving back to the community and society," Gill said. "There are a few pillars of communities, and a hospital is one of them. We all have to try and support those pillars that make up the fabric of the society we live in."
