Values Over Visibility

Steve Mehallis and Gordon Latz have always honored a defining paradox about their beloved friends Dorothy and Harry Mangurian.

The Mangurians lived a public life because of their business pursuits, which included owning professional sports franchises and a renowned farm for thoroughbred race horses. But they cared very little for publicity, Steve says.

“A reporter once started an interview with Harry by asking him about that aspect of their lives and whether it was a contradiction,” Steve says. “Harry said, ‘Yes, well, this interview is over.’ It was probably the shortest interview in the history of newspaper reporting.”

A Statement of Confidence

Those moments as friends and decades spent as business associates of the Mangurians have served Steve and Gordon well as directors of the Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation, which the Mangurians created in 1999. For the past 19 years, the foundation, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has made numerous leadership gifts to Mayo Clinic, other health care organizations, educational institutions, and arts and cultural programs.

But, in keeping with Harry’s and Dorothy’s aversion to publicity, the directors typically decline opportunities to put the Mangurian name on buildings or other types of prominent recognition.

But they do make exceptions.

That comes when they see a chance to make an important statement. Steve told the crowd gathered in July 2018 for the dedication of the Dorothy J. and Harry T. Mangurian, Jr., Building at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus, “We feel so comfortable with this dedication, knowing that great things are and will continue to be accomplished here, and with our belief that Harry and Dottie are smiling and joining in today’s celebration.”

A New Future in Florida

A bittersweet symmetry buttressed those comments. Harry died from leukemia in 2008, and Dottie suffered for many years with Lewy body dementia before her death in 2015.

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Flourishing in Florida

Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus continues to grow to meet patients’ needs. A cyclotron and radiochemistry lab is complete and will join with an expansion to the south side of the Mayo Building to bring molecular imaging to patients in 2019. This type of medical imaging can diagnose diseases earlier at the cellular level and with much greater precision.

Across the street from the Mangurian Building, the Discovery and Innovation Building is also on pace for a 2019 arrival. It will include a lung restoration center, to help solve the waiting list for lung transplantation, and a biotechnology business incubator. The final piece, an expansion to the north side of the Mayo Building for new operating rooms, is also in the works.

“When we formed this vision, our benefactors supported it, and I can’t thank them enough,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., vice president and CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida and president and CEO-elect of Mayo Clinic. “Now, we can see it coming to life and know that we have much to accomplish together as Mayo Clinic lives up to its promise to become the destination medical center for the Southeast.”

Patients with these illnesses and many similar diseases will receive care in the Mangurian Building, which is the new home for Mayo Clinic’s cancer and neurologic care programs in Florida. Its five floors will double the space that each of these programs has — to serve more patients, hire more staff and broaden the expertise Mayo can offer to patients. The building opened to patients in August, and it is just one part of the new future that Mayo Clinic is planning in Florida.

The building is also a model example of Mayo Clinic’s integrated mission in action. Several amenities comfort patients and their family members and create a nearly one-stop environment for cancer and neurological care. A clinical studies unit and laboratory space on the fifth floor put research side by side with patient care. And conference rooms and other group spaces on each floor support the education of residents and fellows.

Philanthropy fuels the mission of Mayo Clinic. Visionary benefactors are the vital catalysts behind our pioneering patient care, breakthrough medical research and world-class educational programs.

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Stories of Hope
Stories of Hope
Stories of Hope