Built by Community. Transformed by Generosity.

The new eight-story Gloria Drummond Patient Tower at Boca Raton Regional Hospital

Some communities inherit their hospitals. Boca Raton built its own.

Not because a healthcare system identified a market opportunity or a developer chose a site. It began because one mother experienced an unimaginable loss and became determined that her growing community needed something it did not have: a hospital close to home.

In 1962, Gloria Drummond lost her two young children, Debra Ann and James Randall, at a time when Boca Raton had no hospital of its own.

Grief became determination. Determination became action. And action became a community cause.

The Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League and Debbie-Rand Foundation were formed. Volunteers mobilized. Residents raised funds. The community rallied around Drummond’s vision.

Five years later, on July 17, 1967, the 104-bed Boca Raton Community Hospital opened its doors. They called it the “Miracle on Meadows Road.”

There is a powerful symmetry between that beginning and what is happening today.

In 1962, the question was whether a community could come together to build a hospital. Today, the question is how far that same spirit of generosity can continue to advance medicine for generations to come.

The answer is rising all around the campus.

GENERATIONS OF GIVING

A hospital born from community giving is still being transformed by it.

Residents and businesses didn’t simply use their hospital. They invested in it. Philanthropy became part of its DNA.

As Boca Raton grew, its hospital grew with it, adding programs, technology and centers of excellence. In 2010, Boca Raton Community Hospital became Boca Raton Regional Hospital, reflecting its expanding role in advanced regional care.

As healthcare evolved, the hospital sought the resources and capabilities needed for its next stage of growth. In July 2019, it became part of Baptist Health South Florida—a significant evolution that preserved something fundamental: its connection to the community that created it.

The Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation retained local stewardship of charitable contributions supporting the hospital and its programs. The partnership combined the resources and reach of a major healthcare system with generations of local commitment.

GENEROSITY AT A NEW SCALE

The Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s historic Keeping the Promise Campaign raised more than $450 million to support the broader campus transformation, including the new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower.

Behind that number are transformational gifts, volunteer leadership, families giving in gratitude for care received and donors investing in the programs and technology they wanted their community to have.

Generations chose to make exceptional healthcare available not only to themselves, but to their neighbors and those who would come after them.

The Gloria Drummond Patient Tower’s illuminated pineapple emblem at dusk

“There is something truly special about the relationship between Boca Raton Regional Hospital and the community it serves, a bond built over generations by people who saw a need, came together and made it their mission to ensure their families and neighbors had access to the highest standards of care close to home,” said Mark Larkin, president of Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation. “As we became part of Baptist Health, carrying that legacy forward was especially meaningful because the generosity of our donors has not only helped shape the hospital we know today, but continues to open new doors for innovation, growth and exceptional care for generations to come.”

HER NAME. A NEW GENERATION OF CARE.

Perhaps no part of the transformation connects past and future more powerfully than the new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower.

Its significance isn’t simply what’s inside. It’s what can now happen closer to home because it is there.

The need that galvanized Boca Raton in 1962 was access to a hospital. Today, community generosity is helping redefine what healthcare close to home can mean—bringing increasingly complex specialty care, technology and medical expertise to the people who live here.

Gloria Drummond’s name now rises over an eight-story, 427,000-square-foot facility with 216 private patient rooms at the center of a medical campus spanning more than one million square feet.

With the addition of the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower, Boca Raton Regional Hospital becomes Palm Beach County’s largest hospital, with 561 licensed beds. Yet its greatest measure of progress isn’t its size, but its ability to deliver advanced, compassionate care while keeping patients and families at the center of every decision.

Corridor memorial with a bronze silhouette and family portrait honoring Gloria Drummond — A memorial honoring Gloria Drummond, whose vision and determination helped establish the hospital more than 55 years ago.

A MEDICAL CAMPUS CREATED BY COMMUNITY

Across the campus, the names themselves tell part of the story.

The expanded Baptist Health Marcus Neuroscience Institute. The Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute. The Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion. Proton therapy at the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute, Harvey & Phyllis Sandler Pavilion, Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute, and the Dorothy Drummond Physical Rehabilitation Institute.

Together, they represent not only an expansion of advanced specialty care, but what happens when a community takes ownership of the quality of healthcare available within it.

A mother’s determination became the Miracle on Meadows Road. A community hospital became a regional medical center. And generation after generation continued to invest in what came next.

Now Gloria Drummond’s name rises over the newest chapter of the medical campus her vision helped set in motion.

The buildings have changed. The medicine has advanced beyond anything imaginable in 1962.

But the community behind it has never stopped showing up.

IN THE GLORIA DRUMMOND PATIENT TOWER

WHAT YOU’LL FIND

One mother’s unimaginable loss moved a community to build a hospital of its own. Generations later, community giving continues to transform what healthcare close to home can mean.

The new eight-story, 427,000-square-foot Gloria Drummond Patient Tower expands Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s capacity for advanced care while creating a more private, comfortable and welcoming environment for patients and families.

“The new Gloria Drummond Patient Tower marks an exciting new chapter for Boca Raton Regional Hospital, bringing together state-of-the-art facilities, advanced medical technology and renowned physicians in an environment thoughtfully designed to put the needs of patients and their families first,” said Lincoln Mendez, CEO of Boca Raton Regional Hospital. “Thanks to the remarkable generosity of our community, this transformation goes far beyond expanding our campus — it allows us to elevate the care we provide, attract leading medical talent and ensure that Boca Raton remains a place where patients can access world-class healthcare close to the people and community, they call home.”

Private patient room with bed, monitor and floor-to-ceiling window — Advanced smart rooms featuring AI-assisted smart technology throughout all patient rooms to transform the patient experience while enhancing clinical efficiency

216 Private Patient Rooms — All equipped with AI-assisted smart technology designed to enhance clinical efficiency, safety, privacy and the patient experience while allowing families to remain close to their loved ones.
20 Operating Rooms — Including two hybrid operating rooms with advanced imaging technology and expanded capabilities for complex, robotic and minimally invasive procedures.
New Intensive Care Unit — Designed to support patients requiring a higher level of specialized care.
Expanded Radiology Services — Advanced imaging capabilities supporting diagnosis, treatment and increasingly complex care.
Advanced Neuroscience Care — Expanded resources through Marcus Neuroscience Institute for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke, spine disorders, brain tumors, epilepsy and other neurological conditions.
Enhanced Heart & Vascular Care — Expanded services through Christine E. Lynn Heart & Vascular Institute.
More for Patients & Families — Retail, dining and gathering spaces designed to make time on campus more comfortable and convenient.
Places for Reflection & Respite — A sanctuary and outdoor courtyards offer quiet spaces away from the clinical environment.
Natural Light Throughout — Incorporated into the design to create a more welcoming environment that supports comfort and healing.