Although Robert Kraft lost his wife, Myra, to cancer more than 10 years ago, he remains grateful for the excellent care and compassionate treatment she received while a patient. As owner of the New England Patriots, the winningest team in the National Football League over the past 20 years, Kraft has seen the bias in the healthcare system towards people of color firsthand.
Kraft has gone so far as to say that if sickle cell disease were a blood disorder primarily affecting white people, medical researchers would have eradicated it by now. The disease rages on instead, claiming the lives of 1,023 Americans in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the difficulty in the proper diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell disease.
Considering the enormous personal wealth Kraft has built as owner of the Kraft Group over the decades, he feels that it falls to people like himself to do as much as they can to stop healthcare disparity. Robert Kraft made good on his word recently by donating more than $75 million to Massachusetts General Hospital to help research sickle cell disease and expand the hospital’s existing blood services.
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How Massachusetts General Hospital Intends to Invest Kraft’s Donation
The first thing hospital administrators plan to do with a portion of the funds is to create a permanent chair position focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kraft’s donation, which comes from his personal finances and his family’s charitable foundation, is the largest the hospital has ever received from a single donor to address inequities in healthcare research and delivery.
No other sports figure who is as well-known as Robert Kraft has taken it upon themselves to make a large donation to fight racial disparities in the healthcare system. Kraft noticed the trend years ago, long before the NFL and other pro sports leagues began focusing on social justice issues.
Recent Charitable Contribution Brings Kraft’s Total Healthcare Donations to $150 Million
Ever since Myra Kraft died of ovarian cancer in July 2011, Robert has made it his mission to contribute to community healthcare improvement in any way he could. His 2010 donation of $75 million made it possible to create the Kraft Center for Community Health. The community health program offers health and addiction services in a mobile care environment.
Even as his beloved wife of 48 years fought terminal ovarian cancer, Robert Kraft understood how privileged they were as a couple to have access to some of the most advanced and comprehensive medical care in the world. He stated at the time that the greatest country in the world must do a better job of providing health services to anyone who needs them on an equal basis. He heard locker room stories, remembered what he saw at hospitals, and launched the Kraft Center for Community Health in response.
Kraft makes it a point to ride in the mobile response van as often as he can to witness professionals dispense care. He knows that creating the community health division in the New England area has saved lives, and this fact brings him immense personal satisfaction.
Funding for Sickle Cell Disease vs. Other Chronic Health Conditions
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) conducted a study in March 2020 comparing the amount of money spent on research for sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis, another serious illness with a significant impact on the human lifespan. The researchers discovered that the amount of funds used to study the two diseases was about the same, despite the fact that sickle cell disease is three times more prevalent than cystic fibrosis.
Approximately one in 365 people in the black community have a diagnosis of sickle cell disease. Dr. Joseph Betancourt, who currently serves as the senior vice president of community health and equity at Massachusetts General Hospital, recently stated how Kraft’s $75 million donation to the hospital will be nothing short of life-changing for dozens of patients.
Betancourt thanked Kraft personally when he stated that patients living with sickle cell disease will now receive comprehensive medical care that has traditionally not been available to them. He further stated that he is grateful to the entire Kraft family for their years-long commitment to improving community health, especially among people whose legitimate medical needs have gone untreated for too long.
Expansion of the Existing Blood Center
Thanks to Kraft’s recent donation, Massachusetts General Hospital plans to rename its existing blood center in honor of the 81-year-old Patriots owner. Approximately 1,000 people donate blood at the center each month, a number that the hospital hopes to increase. Besides reaching more potential donors, administrators of the blood center also hope to attract a more diverse base of blood donors from multiple ethnic backgrounds over the next several years.