From Patient Care to Global Impact — The Story Behind One Couple’s Gift
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In the early 2000s, Gilchrist Berg started experiencing severe back pain. When it wouldn’t go away, the Jacksonville native decided to try Mayo Clinic in Florida.
Gilchrist was pleased to find that no matter how many questions he asked, he always had the full attention of Mayo Clinic staff. As someone whose ability to judge character has fueled tremendous business success, Gilchrist observed that there was a higher level of collaboration at Mayo Clinic than he had seen elsewhere.
These qualities — the attention to patients’ needs and the level of teamwork — stood out to Gilchrist, and he believed they resulted in stronger care. Gilchrist was told he should strengthen his core to reduce his back pain and was prescribed a regimen to make it happen.
He has been both a Mayo Clinic patient and admirer ever since.
“Mayo Clinic changed my life,” Gilchrist says. “The people are what make Mayo Clinic great and why I’ve never had a bad experience. They’re authentic, they do what they say they’re going to do, and one of their core values is collaboration, which is so important.”
The admiration Gilchrist and his wife, Amy, felt toward Mayo Clinic and its values grew substantially when they played a pivotal role in sharing the story of the organization’s history. Amy led The Better Angels Society, which, under her leadership and with the couple’s support, helped bring Ken Burns’ 2018 PBS documentary “The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science” to a national audience.
Amy has held leadership roles in public administration, nonprofit leadership and urban planning and is the current president of the Berg Family Foundation. Gilchrist launched the foundation in 1986, after experiencing years of success at the Jacksonville-based private investment firm he founded, Water Street Capital.
“I got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes history of Mayo Clinic and was just so impressed,” Amy says. “There aren’t many institutions like it. The people and the culture of Mayo Clinic are so excellent, and that’s why they’ve lasted for a long time.”
Around the time the PBS documentary aired, the Bergs were invited to become involved with a new program Mayo Clinic was planning: the Innovation Exchange.
The Exchange helps internal and external innovators by eliminating barriers and streamlining healthcare solutions. Its curated network includes experts in artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, regulatory science, investment, product design and entrepreneurship.
Mayo Clinic changed my life.
— Gilchrist Berg
Because the Bergs understood Mayo Clinic deeply from their experiences as patients and the Ken Burns documentary, they recognized the potential of the Exchange to advance Mayo Clinic’s values worldwide. As the Exchange’s vision took shape, Gilchrist grew increasingly excited about what it could mean.
“He's very curious and he’s very interested in issues at the intersection of innovation and science,” Amy says. “He loves getting in on the ground floor of big ideas.”
Gilchrist’s roommate at Princeton University, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, says that it’s not surprising his lifelong friend would be drawn to something as unique as the Exchange.
“I’ve always admired how Gilchrist’s intellect, discipline and creativity have shaped extraordinary success in business and in life,” Sen. Frist says. “What inspires me most is how he channels that same brilliance into shaping the future — investing in ideas and people that can transform entire fields.”
The Bergs made the first-ever gift to the Exchange in 2019. For the next six years, they were closely connected with the growing program, frequently engaging with leaders about how the Exchange could best evolve to meet the needs of healthcare innovators worldwide.
The Bergs’ confidence in the program’s alignment with Mayo Clinic’s values of excellence, compassion and discovery grew through regular conversations held with enterprise and Exchange leaders. With the right amount of benefactor support, Gilchrist felt certain the Exchange was poised to help shape the future of healthcare innovation.
“What Mayo Clinic can provide fantastically is a connection to resources that we have developed over the centuries,” says Charles Bruce, M.B., Ch.B., the Exchange’s medical director. “Gilchrist and Amy have provided not only financial support — both of them have provided wisdom and counsel.”
In 2025, Gilchrist and Amy provided a landmark $50 million gift to the program, setting the Exchange on a course for enduring growth. The program was renamed the Mayo Clinic Berg Innovation Exchange in their honor.
“The Exchange is a way to align the healthcare marketplace with Mayo Clinic values, which I really believe in,” Gilchrist says. “It’s important that these values guide the development of global health because there are a lot of challenges in the world. Mayo Clinic is one of the world’s great public-facing institutions.”