Goal is to build a new hospital for women and children
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU Football Coach Dana Holgorsen, former WVU and NFL quarterback Jeff Hostetler, and West Virginia native Steve Antoline have been named co-chairs of the $60 million capital campaign to build a new home for WVU Medicine Children’s pediatric and maternal services.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have three such important members of our community be so devoted to the support and success of the children and women of West Virginia,” J. Philip Saul, M.D., executive vice president of WVU Medicine Children’s, said. “It will be a great pleasure to work with Dana, Jeff, and Steve, who all clearly have the passion to lead this critical effort.”
The 2018 season will mark Holgorsen’s eighth at the helm of the WVU Football team. A native of Iowa, he is currently fourth on the school’s all-time win list, and he has led the Mountaineers to bowl games in five of the past six years, including three straight. West Virginia has been ranked in both major polls at least one week in six of his seven years. He passed the 50-win mark during the 2017 season.
Through his position with WVU and the longstanding relationship between WVU Athletics and WVU Medicine Children’s, Holgorsen has become a champion and spokesperson for WVU Medicine Children’s, appearing at events and in commercials raising funds and awareness. Last month, the inaugural “Walk the Talk with Dana” event was held to raise money for WVU Medicine Children’s.
“The West Virginia University football program takes great pride in our partnership with WVU Medicine Children’s. Hall of Fame Coach Don Nehlen laid the foundation, and our program is proud to further that relationship,” Holgorsen said. “I am honored to be a chairman of this fundraising effort and work along with Jeff Hostetler and Steve Antoline. All three of us want the best for the state of West Virginia and our great University. This will be one of the best medical facilities for children and women in the country, and miracles will happen on a daily basis right here in Morgantown.”
A native of Pennsylvania, Hostetler had an 18-6 record as a two-year starter for Coach Don Nehlen’s Mountaineers and captained the 1983 WVU Football team. He was chosen by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft and won two Super Bowls with the Giants. His 15-year NFL career included stops with the Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and the Washington Redskins.
Hostetler and his wife Vicky have been passionate about providing assistance to children and families facing hardships due to traumatic injury, illness, or financial crisis. Over the years, they have used their focus of family and faith to guide not only their lives but the community activities they support.
As the parents of three sons – who, at various stages in their lives, have needed the care of WVU Medicine Children’s – the Hostetlers understand firsthand what families and, more importantly, children go through during their stay at the hospital. This led them to become members of the WVU Medicine Children’s Leadership Council, where they could advise and promote community involvement. Involvement with the Leadership Council and their children’s experiences led the family to donate $750,000 to WVU Medicine Children’s for the creation of the Jeff and Vicky Hostetler Family Resource Center, which provides patients and their families with information about health conditions, area lodging, and community support.
“I’m excited about being a part of something that will have such a positive impact on our children and families, our community, and our state,” Hostetler said. “On more than one occasion, Vicky and I have personally experienced the great care that is delivered inside the walls of WVU Medicine Children’s, and we want to ensure that care is available to children and families for years to come.”
Antoline, from Mount Lookout, W.Va., is a WVU alum and member of the WVU Medicine Children’s Leadership Council. After receiving his Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from WVU, he founded Superior Highwall Miners, Inc., a Beckley-based company that grew into the world’s largest manufacturer of highwall mining equipment. Antoline continues to operate various businesses throughout the state and serves as a trustee on the West Virginia State Investment Management Board.
He and his wife, Jamie, have been generous supporters of WVU Medicine Children’s and the University for many years. Their donations have helped to fund scholarships, programs, research, and facilities in several areas of the University, including Athletics, the WVU Cancer Institute, and WVU Extension. In recognition of their generosity, the football practice field at WVU is named the Steve Antoline Family Football Practice Facility. Also, in 2013, WVU Extension honored the Antolines with its Outstanding Philanthropists Award. Both are members of the WVU Foundation’s Woodburn Circle and Irvin Stewart donor recognition societies.
“Jamie and I both feel that God has blessed us by enabling us to give back. Our involvement with WVU Medicine Children’s is one way of sharing these blessings to help create a state-of-the-art healthcare facility in Morgantown for children who are facing challenges in their young lives,” Antoline said. “We both have a special place in our hearts for the children of West Virginia and the region, especially those less fortunate.”
The campaign officially launched in November, when the plans to build the $153 million tower for WVU Medicine Children’s were announced. Upon its completion in late 2020, the tower will add 155 beds to WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital. It will result in expanded intensive care and obstetrical units; dedicated operating rooms and heart catheterization and endoscopy suites; and outpatient clinics.
“This is a necessity, not a nicety,” Gordon Gee, WVU president and chairman of the West Virginia University Health System Board of Directors, said at press conference announcing the tower and campaign. “The children and families we serve will be relying on our friends and alumni, our businesses, the people of West Virginia, and the Mountaineer Nation – wherever they may be – to pitch in and to make this project a reality.”
For more information on the campaign to build a new home for WVU Medicine Children’s, including ways to support the fundraising efforts, visit wvumedicine.org/growchildrens.