The Weiler Foundation has committed $5 million to the Knoxville Hospital & Clinics (KHC) Foundation to support the hospital’s expansion project, including the construction of a new specialty clinic. 

The Weiler Specialty Clinic is part of a $21 million project that will also add a new surgical suite, renovate the Emergency Department, and construct the new Don & Margaret Long Infusion Center.

The expanded clinic space, which will be home to 24 visiting specialists, will be located on the south side of the hospital and share a waiting room with the Dr. Earl J. McKeever Clinic for family medicine. The location of the two clinics side-by-side will improve patient convenience; care experience; and flow for patients, guests, and staff.

“We had a series of meetings and one of them I believe all of you were there. It was a pretty memorable day for me to walk out of that plant, knowing they had committed $5 million dollars towards our project,” said Kevin Kincaid, KHC CEO. “This project is touching almost all areas of our medical center.”

The Weiler family was motivated to make the gift to Knoxville Hospital & Clinics to enhance the local community in which Weiler employees live, work, and prosper.

The company boasts more than 500 employees in the Knoxville area. Weiler recently completed its own expansion that is projected to add another 100 jobs as the new facility becomes fully operational.

Megan (Weiler) Green, President of the Weiler Foundation tells KNIA/KRLS News why the company supported this project, “The Weiler Foundation like Katelyn mentioned has been around for a long time and we’ve made hundreds of donations over those years to local causes. Some very small things, some larger things. This is obviously a scale that we’ve never been on before but we’ve kind of been watching and waiting for something that we felt would be significant. We certainly feel this will have a significant impact both on the community and on our employees to get top notch care right here in Knoxville.”

Fellow Weiler Foundation Board member Katelyn Freeseman added, “I think it was easy to see that the impact of the donation would be large and it would directly impact our employees.” 

Hospital CEO Kincaid tells KNIA/KRLS News he is beyond grateful for Weiler’s support of the hospital’s mission.

For more information about the donation listen to today’s In Depth.