Dean and Barbara White Foundation funds $30M cancer center
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The Dean and Barbara Family Foundation has donated $30 million to Mishawaka-based Franciscan Health Foundation in a gift billed as the largest in the Franciscan foundation’s history.
The donation will create The Dean and Barbara White Cancer Center in the new Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital and comes months after White Lodging founder Bruce White died after a nearly year-long battle with cancer.
Craig White—brother to Bruce White and board president of The Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation—said in a news release that the family’s namesake organization seeks to honor their parents’ memory “by working with partners that create new opportunities for the people of the area they loved.”
“My Mom and Dad were forward-looking and believed in action,” Craig White said of his parents, Dean and Barbara. “With Franciscan, we can build a center that will bring advance practices, technology and talent to the people of Northwest Indiana when they need it most.”
The 71,000-square-foot, three-story cancer center will be built as part of Franciscan’s hospital project at the southeast corner of I-65 and U.S. 231. Franciscan officials say the new diagnostic and treatment center will consolidate existing cancer care services into one location.
The new center will allow the hospital to participate in clinical trials, recruit top clinicians and offer state-of-the art technology, Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Daniel McCormick said in a news release.
“Our goal is to provide early diagnosis and better access to potentially lifesaving care in one convenient location and, most importantly, to improve the chance for disease remission and long-term survival,” Dr. McCormick said.
The Dean and Barbara White Cancer Center is expected to open in early 2026. The broader, $200 million Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital project broke ground in September 2020 and is expected to open next year.
“Franciscan Health is grateful for the generous support from The Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation, which will help us achieve a new standard of care for cancer patients in Northwest Indiana,” Franciscan Health Foundation Chairwoman Sister Jane Marie said.