A groundbreaking year
St. Anthony Foundation 2025 Impact Report
Your impact in 2025
Because of you, 2025 was a truly remarkable year for the SSM Health St. Anthony Foundation. We are deeply grateful for your generosity and proud to share what you helped make possible.
of the year. With nearly 800 attendees, the event raised a record $1.4 million, all while maintaining a strong 83% program-to-expense ratio. Your support helps ensure that every dollar goes as far as possible in service to others.
Together, we achieved our largest fundraising year on record, raising $10,686,484 and surpassing last year’s milestone of $7.8 million. This progress represents 480% growth since 2015 and more than 200% growth since the launch of our Saints Forward campaign. These resources are strengthening care today and helping ensure a solid future for our Mission.
Your generosity also inspired extraordinary leadership support, including four seven-figure gifts in 2025, an incredible affirmation of the impact we can make when we work together.
Our annual Saints Ball was another highlight
Employee giving continues to be a powerful part of our story. More than 1,800 employee donors gave nearly $450,000 in 2025, placing SSM Health in Oklahoma among the top 5% nationally for employee giving participation.
You are also investing in the future of health care. Thanks to your generosity, the foundation has now awarded nearly $1 million in nursing scholarships, supporting those who will care for our communities for years to come.
We are honored by the loyalty and trust of our donor community. This year, donor retention grew to 67.5% – well above the national average – and ranks among the top nonprofits nationwide. In total, 2,476 donors made 18,515 gifts, a 13.5% increase from last year, and we were thrilled to welcome 788 new donors into our Mission.
Every number represents a life touched and a difference made. Thank you for believing in this work and for being such an important part of the SSM Health St. Anthony Foundation’s story.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Linda Whittington
2025 Chair, SSM Health Oklahoma
SSM Health St. Anthony Foundation Board
Lynann Sterk-Brooks
Regional Vice President, Philanthropy and Foundation
SSM Heath St. Anthony Foundation
2026 Board of Directors
Chair: Cindy Batt
Vice Chair: Jim Trent
Secretary/Treasurer: Julie D. Naifeh
Past Chair: Linda Whittington
Salima Ahmad, MD
Julie Bartley-Johnson
Jerry Bendorf
Philip Busey, Jr.
Justin Byrne
Phil Clayton
Lawrence (Larry) H. Davis
Paul W. Dudman
David Egan
Jamie Farha
Glenn Floresca
Susie Fuller
Suzette Hatfield
Jeffrey Hirsch, MD
Wade B. Huckabay
Eric Joiner
Michael (Mike) J. Milligan
Anthony Nguyen, D.D.S.
Kim O’Connor
Elizabeth Roberts
Trent L. Roberts
Avis Scaramucci
Elizabeth Taylor Semtner
Randy Stalcup
Brent Stockwell
Becky Taylor
David Walters
Chuck Walworth
Lynann Sterk-Brooks (Ex Officio)
Our generous donors make it possible for us to care for patients in the ways they need, year after year. Through their generosity, the SSM Health St. Anthony Foundation empowers our hospitals to fulfill their Mission—revealing the healing presence of God through exceptional health care services.
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When care goes above— and beyond
Now more than ever, your generosity is shaping the future of exceptional care for our community. Because of you, our caregivers have the resources, technology, and training they need to deliver care every day. In 2025, that commitment was recognized in extraordinary ways:
SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital was named to Forbes’ first‑ever list of Top Hospitals and included in Newsweek’s 2025 list of America’s Best Maternity Hospitals, and 93 of our physicians were honored in the 405 Magazine Top Doctors Issue. These distinctions reflect not only the dedication of our clinical teams, but they also reflect YOU. Your investment in patient care, innovation, and healing spaces strengthens the experience of every person who walks through our doors.
A groundbreaking day
Our community gathered for a milestone moment in the Saints Forward campaign – the groundbreaking and blessing of the new Love Family Entrance. This transformational new entrance will reshape the experience of more than 176,000 patients each year. Featuring enclosed access from the parking garage, a fully accessible single-level entry, and an expanded lobby increasing from 3,248 to 13,134 square feet, the Love Family Entrance will welcome patients and families with dignity, comfort, and ease.
Thanks to the collective generosity of our donors, recent fundraising milestones have accelerated construction progress and advanced plans for donor recognition throughout the project. As we look toward completion in early 2027, we celebrate our donors, whose commitment is helping SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital step boldly into its next century of healing.
Under a bright Oklahoma sky, hospital president Tammy Powell, Mayor David Holt, Jenny Love Meyer, and Mike Turpen honored the legacy of Tom and Judy Love and the generations of families who have relied on SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital for compassionate care. Gov. Bill Anoatubby represented The Chickasaw Nation whose support of this project includes a tribute honoring Tom Love and his Chickasaw heritage. As Mike Turpen said on Judy Love’s behalf, it was truly “a thunderful day” – a day that marked far more than construction. It marked progress, partnership, and promise.
This new Love Family Entrance does more than improve accessibility, it opens directly into the Eleanor B. Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn, a vibrant outdoor setting that will reshape the way patients and families experience our campus.
Hope, rooted here
Thanks to a lead gift from the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, SSM Health St. Anthony is transforming its outdoor spaces into the Eleanor B. Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn – a vibrant, restorative environment that will bring nature, comfort, and accessibility to patients, families, and caregivers from the moment they arrive.
The Eleanor B. Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn alone will achieve arboretum status, featuring more than 25 species of trees and plants, creating a beautiful, educational, and healing environment for everyone who steps onto our campus.
The garden will include three thoughtfully designed areas:
• The Eleanor B. Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn, extending toward NW 9th St.
• The Pavilion, a flexible outdoor gathering and dining space
• The Eleanor B. Kirkpatrick Sculpture Garden, seamlessly woven into the landscape
Just steps from the new entrance, this expansive garden extends our commitment to comfort and healing beyond the walls of the hospital. By providing a ground-level, enclosed, and direct connection from the parking garage this project will significantly improve safety and ease for more than 400,000 visitors each year.
Proposed rendering
Record-breaking Saints Ball
“Samba & Sparkle: A Night in Rio!”
The Foundation’s annual Saints Ball hosted last fall at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum achieved an all-time high of $1,437,795 raised for Saints Forward. Co-chairs were Dr. Senthil and Thatcha Raju, and Governor David and Rhonda Walters. Nearly 800 guests enjoyed live and silent auctions, raffles, live music, and colorful samba dancers, with multiple moments honoring Saints caregivers whose compassion builds community.
Highlights included the moving story of Dustin Davis (Frank C. Love Cancer Institute Patient) with his wife Kelli, and a $200,000 match challenge from Metro Physicians and TCO Hospitalist Group, which the community met and exceeded. Generous $50,000 gifts from Drs. Iftikar and Salima Ahmad and Darren and Jenee Lister bookended the Fund the Mission segment. The event’s success will help complete the Love Family Entrance and assist patient tower renovations improving safety and patient care for decades.
Transforming care through next-generation imaging
Saints celebrated the opening of a new Siemens® Biograph Trinion PET/CT scanner — the first of its kind in Oklahoma. This leading-edge imaging technology allows doctors to see clearer, more detailed pictures inside the body, helping them diagnose conditions faster and with greater accuracy.
This milestone was made possible by a generous donor and ensures that our physicians have access to the most advanced tools available that can profoundly change outcomes for patients and families.
The system produces extremely sensitive images, shortens scan times, and streamlines the entire experience for both patients and care teams. It supports advanced care across many specialties, including oncology, neurology, urology, endocrinology, and more.
Bringing relief and renewed quality of life to men in our community
SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital is the first hospital in the Oklahoma City metro to offer Aquablation® therapy – an advanced, AI-guided robotic treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition that affects many men as they age.
Thanks to a generous donor, Saints brought this next-generation technology to Oklahoma, giving patients access to a level of precision and comfort not available through traditional methods. Using real-time imaging, Aquablation removes excess prostate tissue safely and consistently, offering significant symptom relief while helping men maintain continence and sexual function.
“BPH severely compromises quality of life for countless men over age 50,” said Mohammad Ramadan, MD. “With Aquablation, men can reclaim their lifestyles — outcomes often elusive with older treatments.”
Enhancing comfort in every critical moment
In the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) – where every minute is critical – patients and caregivers rely on an environment designed for comfort, efficiency, and healing. Thanks to donor support, Saints recently celebrated meaningful upgrades that strengthen comfort, safety, and efficiency across our ICU floors.
New recliners offer relief to patients and families during long, stressful hours. Adjustable beds support better breathing and mobility. Patient lifts reduce injury risk for both patients and nurses. Updated chairs and refreshed lounges help caregivers stay rested and focused. And a former consultation room has been transformed into a rejuvenation space for our ICU health care workers equipped with massage chairs.
These enhancements directly elevate the patient’s experience while strengthening the well-being of the teams who care for them.
Ensuring healing happens close to home
When Rhonda Ellard received a cancer diagnosis, she was given a choice: travel far for treatment or stay close to home. She chose SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Shawnee, where familiarity, compassion, and community made all the difference.
Through radiation therapy, Rhonda continued teaching her elementary students, who became one of her biggest sources of strength. On her final day of treatment, her class and care team surprised her by lining the hallway as she rang the bell — a moment she says helped carry her through the entire journey.
Today, Rhonda shares her gratitude by encouraging others to support cancer care.
She knows firsthand how advancements in technology and redesigned patient spaces can shorten treatment times, reduce stress, and improve outcomes.
The Cancer Center at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital – Shawnee is being transformed with upgraded technology, expanded infusion areas, and more comfortable spaces, thanks to a transformative $3,000,000 gift from the Avedis Foundation. These enhancements will increase capacity, reduce waiting times, and ensure patients like Rhonda can receive exceptional care close to home — surrounded by community and hope. A fundraising campaign to complete the renovation of the Cancer Center will launch in Spring 2026.
