James H. Cummings Foundation Donates $1M to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital


The John H. Cummings Foundation presented the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital with a $1 million gift to establish the James H. Cummings Foundation Epilepsy Monitoring Center. The donation is the largest gift ever given by the Cummings Foundation.

A neurologic disorder that nearly 2.2 million people throughout the country suffer from, epilepsy causes repeated and involuntary seizures. Although anti-epileptic drugs are available as a means to treat and minimize the seizures, many individuals still experience frequent episodes that affect their quality of life.

Serving both adults and children with epilepsy, the eight bed Epilepsy Monitoring Center is offering treatment to patients at the current Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo site. For the last 4 years, the center has been recognized as a Level 4 epilepsy center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.

Level 4 centers have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level of medical and surgical evaluations and treatments for patients with complex epilepsy. Such centers provide long-term video EEG monitoring is available, can provide accurate diagnosis and allow for optimal therapeutic intervention, in particular evaluation for epilepsy surgery, tailored anti-epileptic drug therapy, implantation of vagal nerve stimulators or initiation of the ketogenic diet.

The new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital will function as a regional center for comprehensive and state-of-the-art pediatric, neonatal, perinatal and obstetrical services in Western New York.

“The James H. Cummings Foundation believes that having a state-of-the-art hospital focused on children’s needs is critical to our community,” stated Charles F. Kreiner, Jr., president of the James H. Cummings Foundation.

To-date, out of the $40 fundraising campaign goal for the Children’s Hospital, $30 million has been raised. The James H. Cummings Foundation continues a trend of major giving to support the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, which includes the John R. Oishei Foundation, The Children’s Guild Foundation, The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, New Era and Fisher-Price/Mattel.

The James H. Cummings Foundation was established to support the philanthropic vision of its namesake. Throughout its 51-year history, the Foundation has aided countless organizations engaged in advancing charitable interests according to the guidelines and policies espoused by Mr. Cummings.  Admired for his unassuming manner, friendly air, and a quiet generosity, Mr. Cummings was dedicated to giving back to the communities he called “home.”

The John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital is scheduled to be completed in December of 2015 on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. For more information, visit www.kaleidahealth.org/childrens/oishei/.