JUNO BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 19, 2019) — Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and Baptist Health South Florida executives announced Wednesday that FPL is continuing its longstanding support of technology and innovation by gifting $1 million to the Miami Cancer Institute’s proton therapy program for pediatric cancer patients.
Baptist Health and FPL hope this donation – made possible through FPL’s charitable arm NextEra Energy Foundation – will raise awareness about the importance of furthering childhood cancer treatment, especially as September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
“The generosity of donors helped us obtain this exceptional technology, and the generosity of FPL will help us continue to make strides in pediatric oncology,” said Dr. Minesh Mehta, Chief of Radiology at Miami Cancer Institute.
Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, leads the way in cancer treatment by providing innovative proton therapy to treat pediatric cancer patients. This treatment uses pencil beam scanning technology, which precisely targets tumors and largely spares normal surrounding tissue, thus decreasing the patient’s risk of side effects.
“FPL and Baptist Health share a common bond of pursuing excellence through continuous improvement – constantly seeking out new technology to improve the service we provide to our community,” said FPL President and CEO Eric Silagy. “From drones and substation robots to smart meters and smart grid devices, FPL uses innovative technology to make our energy grid stronger, smarter and more storm-resilient for our customers. Baptist has taken that same innovative approach to offer the best of health care to our community.”
“FPL clearly understands the importance of philanthropy to our organization and to our community, and we’re abundantly grateful,” said Alex Villoch, CEO of Baptist Health Foundation. “In the United States alone, more than 15,000 children under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer each year. One in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. It impacts far too many, but Baptist Health and Miami Cancer Institute are committed to improving those statistics. And the generosity of partners like FPL will help us achieve that goal.”
To signify FPL’s gift, Baptist Health renamed the proton therapy program’s welcome desk to Florida Power & Light Company Welcome Center.
“I am happy to say that FPL’s partnership with Baptist Health will help the Miami Cancer Institute continue extending this innovative proton therapy treatment to the children of our community,” Silagy said. “Our children are tomorrow’s leaders. And, no child should ever be robbed of his or her youth because of the grim diagnosis of cancer. Proton therapy is ideal for treating pediatric cancer because its precision minimizes unwanted side effects. Effective and efficient, proton therapy helps shorten treatment times so our children can get back to being…children.”
B-roll and images from the event can be located here, as well as key soundbites from participants, including Miami Cancer Institute patient Sharon Prolow.
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Florida Power & Light Company
Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the United States as measured by retail electricity produced and sold, serving more than 5 million customer accounts or an estimated 10 million+ people across the state of Florida. FPL’s typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30% lower than the latest national average and among the lowest in the U.S. FPL’s service reliability is better than 99.98%, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all electric companies nationwide. The company was recognized in 2018 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International for the fifth consecutive year. A leading Florida employer with approximately 9,100 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2019 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of Gulf Power Company, which serves more than 460,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.GulfPower.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Baptist Health South Florida
Baptist Health South Florida is the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, nearly 23,000 employees, more than 4,000 physicians and more than 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and sports medicine, and neurosciences. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and Baptist Health Care On Demand, a virtual health platform. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/Newsroom and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.