UNCW has embarked on a the “silent phase” of its fundraising campaign and will now open to the public, hoping to take in an additional 50,000 gifts. (Port City Daily/Preston Lennon)
WILMINGTON UNCW will launch the next phase of its comprehensive fundraising campaign in early February. Work has been ongoing for a while to raise millions of dollars at the university. During the campaign’s “silent phase,” which started around the time Chancellor Jose Sartarelli took office in July 2015 and continued until this year, the university raised over $86 million.
With a $100 million goal in mind, UNCW will soon begin outreach to a wide pool of alumni and other affiliates of the university, hoping to secure an additional 50,000 gifts from alumni. The campaign was initially slated for an autumn 2020 launch, but was pushed back amid the continuing pandemic, according to Eddie Stuart, vice chancellor for university advancement.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY When $1.25 billion in public assets changes hands to
a private group in New Hanover County as a result of the sale of the county-owned hospital, the intent of the transaction is that money will stay within county limits.
Outside of an anticipated regulatory review, the deal is done. Still, some regional leaders in surrounding, rural counties are asking: Did we get left out of the deal?
Related:
The possibility the county took an overly insular approach to setting up the private benefactor of the public assets, New Hanover County Community Endowment, Inc., means residents that live outside the county line may not directly benefit from this aspect of the sale. As a county-owned hospital, there’s no doubt New Hanover County deserves the overwhelming bulk of sale proceeds.
By Staff Reports, posted Jan 8, 2021
This year is expected to include some of the same themes as 2020, from what will become of the countyâs proceeds from the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to more COVID-19 news. While COVID-19’s impact on the economy will remain a focus this year, other expected newsmakers in 2021 include New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the film industry and the Port of Wilmington.
Big Picture
Although 2020 is in the rearview, its effects are expected to linger with the potential for even rockier economic times this year.
“I am optimistic that in 2021 our small businesses will begin to see more of a recovery beginning in the third quarter of 2021 if we can turn the tide of the pandemic with the vaccine and a comprehensive strategy to eliminate it,” said Jerry Coleman, director of the Small Business Center at Cape Fear Community College, in December. “The next several months, however, will
Among the issues that have frequented headlines and been the topic of public conversation and debate in 2020, the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center sits high on the list.
When a divided New Hanover County Board of Commissioners voted to pursue the possible sale of the largest employer in the county in September 2019, officials and citizens had questions about what the sale would mean for the future of the hospital and the area.
Since then critics of the sale, like Save Our Hospital Inc., have said the process was rushed, lacked transparency and feared a sale could not only lower the quality of care and increase costs, but put taxpayer money in the hands of groups not from the county.
(Top row, from left to right) Bill Cameron, Stedman Stevens, Cedric Dickerson, Michele Holbrook; (middle row) Spence Broadhurst, Dr. Virginia Adams, Chris Boney, Dr. Patrick Maguire; (bottom row) David Sprunt, Hannah Gage. Not pictured: Shannon Winslow.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY The entire 11-member board of the newfound New Hanover Community Endowment, Inc. nonprofit has been named, with board members recently conducting their first meeting.
The endowment is tasked with managing $1.25 billion the lion’s share of sale proceeds generated by the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health.
Regulators are currently reviewing the sale in advance of its anticipated closing date, which is expected sometime in the first quarter of 2021.