Massachusetts General Hospital has received a visionary philanthropic gift from longtime donors Lily and Efthemios (Tim) Bentas. The donation supports The Campaign for Mass General — the largest comprehensive fundraising effort in the hospital’s history — and, specifically, Mass General’s new, state-of-the-art clinical care facility, the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, the capital cornerstone of the Campaign.
In recognition and honor of Lily and Tim’s generosity, Mass General Cancer Center’s Inpatient Floor and Atrium within the East Tower of the Ragon Building will be named the Efthemios J. and Lily H. Bentas Atrium and Inpatient Floor.
A Longstanding Collaboration
Lily and Tim Bentas are lifelong patients and dedicated philanthropic partners of Massachusetts General Hospital. Through the couple’s efforts to build strong connections with many of the hospital’s providers, they say they gained a keen understanding of how philanthropy plays an integral role in advancing patient care and research.
“Our commitment to Mass General goes back years. It is such a special place to our family,” says Lily. “My husband and I have firsthand experience with the extraordinary care you receive when in need, and it is our great privilege to give back to those who have given us so much.”
Over the years, Lily and Tim’s foresight and philanthropic investments have created new career pathways for some of Mass General’s most talented, early career physician-scientists. In 2018, they established an endowed fund — the Lily Haseotes Bentas Multidisciplinary Award in Cancer Research — that created an award for women in cancer research with a specific goal of helping them balance their research careers with their lives outside of work, including family responsibilities.
The Bentases’ personal experiences with cancer and close relationship with David Ryan, MD, Mass General’s chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and clinical director of the Mass General Cancer Center, have driven much of their philanthropic giving. The choice of naming these specific spaces — the inpatient floor and atrium of the Ragon Building — reflects the couple’s respect and admiration for Dr. Ryan because both spaces will directly impact cancer patients.
“Lily and Tim have been lifelong Mass General patients and prolific supporters,” says Dr. Ryan. “We are honored to have the Efthemios J. and Lily H. Bentas Atrium and Inpatient Floor in the Cancer Center’s East Tower of the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building.”
Space for Hope and Healing
Nestled in the East Tower of the new Ragon Building — for which construction began in the fall of 2022 — the 30,000 square-foot Efthemios J. and Lily H. Bentas Atrium and Inpatient Floor will provide personalized and comfortable acute care for Mass General Cancer Center patients. Each inpatient floor in the East Tower will feature 38 larger single rooms, giving families more space to participate in their loved one’s care and to provide privacy when patients and families interact with their care teams. In addition, these rooms will be equipped to meet patients’ increasing technology needs now — and well into the future.
“After our first facility — the Bulfinch Building — this will be the most important building we construct in Mass General’s history,” says David F. M. Brown, MD, president of Mass General. “Our donors, like Lily and Tim Bentas, have strengthened our infrastructure in the past and will continue to serve as the engine behind our evolution, behind our ability to transform the health of our patients now — and for the next 200 years.”
Included on the floor named in recognition of Lily and Tim will be a bright, two-story Atrium designed for patients and their loved ones. The space, which overlooks the bustling streets of Beacon Hill and the West End, provides a respite for those in need, including a private gathering space, along with multiple areas for care teams to collaborate and recharge.
The location of the Efthemios J. and Lily H. Bentas Atrium and Inpatient Floor is critical to ensuring Mass General continues to offer the most efficient care — it will be located several floors above the ambulatory practice, infusion suites and a dedicated round-the-clock urgent care center exclusively for Cancer Center patients, allowing for a more comfortable and coordinated patient experience.
“We are very grateful to be able to make this commitment to Mass General,” says Lily. “We look forward to seeing the hospital’s progress in tackling cancer and other pressing and important health issues as it embarks on this new chapter in patient care.”
To learn more about the Efthemios J. and Lily H. Bentas Atrium and Inpatient Floor, please contact us.
