The Following are Key Statements of Support from the Community from our Groundbreaking Ceremony:

The Governor’s Statements
Hello, I’m Governor Jeb Bush.  As you will learn tonight, the partnering of General Electric and the Pepin Heart Hospital & Dr. Kiran C. Patel Research Institute is a proud moment for the citizens of Florida.  Florida now has an all-digital healthcare facility that provides state-of-the-art cardiovascular care and research.  Based in Tampa, this facility will enhance Florida’s medical capabilities. It adds to our state’s expanding role as a world-class site for biotech and medical research.  I invite you to now listen to comments from others about this opportunity.  Tonight you will be joined by the key people who helped make this project a reality.  I would like to thank them and everyone involved in the transformation of the Pepin Heart Hospital.  Have a good evening and God Bless. 
 
Polly Pepin, Pepin Distributing Company, Philanthropist
Well after Pep had his heart attack it was really necessary to look around and to see what we could do for other people as far as heart attacks were concerned.  Pep decided to start the Pepin Heart and Vascular Institute.  Our family is very proud and it will go on forever in Pep’s memory.  He is the one that said it has to be done and he did it and we are very, very proud of that fact.

Tommy Franks, U.S. Army Retired
You know it is easy for Americans to put a face on heart disease … It has affected my own family; it’s affected the Pepin Family.  As we look at Pepin Hospital, Pepin Heart coming online in this powerful combination with General Electric, I am thinking that maybe in the days ahead we will be able to do something about what has so dramatically affected so many families.
 
Chris Sullivan, Chairman, Outback Steakhouse
I think it is terrific that the Pepin Family has joined forces with so many other great leaders.  People in this community are going to build something that is so very important to so many people’s lives.  And all of us know that we lost a great friend through heart disease and hopefully, in years to come, with all of this great research and all this biotechnology that will take place at this hospital, it will have great success.
 
Johnny Byrd, Speaker of the House
We applaud the vision of the Pepin Family.
 
Tom Lee, Florida Senate President
Well this is a very exciting alliance with General Electric and the Pepin Heart Hospital because it will bring quality health care and create one of the finest cardiac care facilities in the Southeast United States.
 
Pam Iorio, Mayor, City of Tampa
Yet another example of Tampa leadership and medical intervention.
 
H. Lee Moffitt, Foundation, Moffitt Cancer Center
Art Pepin was a wonderful man and he had a wonderful vision for the Tampa Bay area and that was to make sure we had a first class heart hospital.  His family has continued his dream and hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will be able to point to the Pepin Heart Hospital as one of Tampa’s great resources.  It will contribute to the overall healthcare of the Bay Area and make all of our citizens thankful that Art Pepin had this wonderful dream.
 
Dr. Kiran Patel, Foundation for Global Understanding
I have been associated with UCH for 21 years.  The new hospital will provide a new level of support for patient care.  But the real excitement to me is the research institute.  It will involve the departments of medicine, surgery and radiology as a source of interdisciplinary cardiovascular research training and education.  This will position the Pepin Heart Hospital among the leading cardiovascular hospitals in the nation. 
 
Norm Stein, UCH President
We are very fortunate to have lots of friends in the community and fortunate to have lots of folks here as our friends.  This project, in the last 15 years, has been just a pleasure to be able to work through.  A labor of love.  Nobody can be more excited than myself to see this project take off.  We think this is going to have tremendous opportunities, not only for University Community Hospital and our Heart Program, but also for the whole economic growth in the Tampa Bay area.
 
Dow Wilson, President & CEO, GE Medical Systems
Hi, I am Dow Wilson, President and CEO of GE Information Technologies. I would like to congratulate you at Pepin Heart on this groundbreaking celebration.  We at GE Medical are excited to be working with you in this key new partnership in cardiology.  We believe that together we can transform healthcare, the speed of patients throughout their healthcare experience that will enable doctors and nurses to personalize their care, to make it more effective and more efficient for the hospital, for patients and for themselves.  We look forward to working on this with you.  Congratulations again and good luck. 
  
Don Lau, UCH Foundation Board Chairman
I think the Pepin Heart Institute is going to leave a legacy for the future in that we will be the first digital hospital in the Southeast.
 
Bob Anderson, UCH Board Chairman/USF Dean
What we are hoping to do is to be able to move to the forefront and work towards the prevention of cardiovascular disease through research and, of course, refine the techniques that the cardiovascular surgeons would be using on those patients.
 
Vivian Reeves, CEO, Reeves Import Motor Cars
Art and Polly Pepin, who are dear friends of ours, and my husband played golf together and it was very sad when Art passed away.  He left a wonderful legacy and I think Polly is trying to continue that.  She is a dear.
 
Dr. Kevin Klein, UCH Cardiologist
I think in the long run this will improve the safety of delivery of care, the efficiencies of the hospital and improve the environment for the working physician.  Ultimately it will provide the patient with a greater level of service, higher quality of service and a safer hospital visit.
 
Dr. Mitch O’Hara, UCH Cardiologist
The advantages of having a facility like this is that everybody is going to be on the same page and be cardiac-oriented, if you will.  The records are all going to be digitized; patients coming back for repeat procedures will have instantaneous access to their records.
 
Dr. Roberto Medina, UCH Cardiologist
We will be able to have all the medical records and the diagnostic studies at our fingertips, which will provide a much safer environment.
 
Dr. Scott Bronleewe, UCH Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgeon
Having everything digitally recorded and accessible at the patients’ bedside, from your office or from a hand-held PC, will give you immediate access and cut down on time requirements. 
  
Jim Davis, GM, GE Medical Systems
You know, when this facility opens it will provide a standard of care that is second to none from a cardiovascular standpoint here in the United States.  You have been able to attract great clinicians and we will provide these great clinicians with the best imaging technology, the best monitoring system and the best information technologies.  This is not only going to allow you to provide the best cardiac care, but to do it in a way that’s both cost effective and that maximizes performance in your facility.  I am really honored to be part of this process.  Thanks for the opportunity.  We are going to deliver 100 percent of the commitment we have made and together we are going to open up a world-class cardiovascular institute within the next 18 to 24 months.  Best of luck.
 
Paul Melech, Florida Digital Technologies/Heart Patient
I had an Angioplasty.  Everything since then has been wonderful.  The experience here was unbelievable.  I had an opportunity to compare two hospitals and I am telling you this one was the best.
 
Wit Ostrenko, MOSI President/Heart Patient
The good folks at Pepin Heart got me back on the road, back to work and now I am running, jogging and swimming everyday.
 
Jim Shimberg, UCH Board Member 35 years
It will be a state–of-the-art facility  …it will be like the Moffitt of Heart and it is going to be wonderful for the Tampa community.
 
Stuart Rogel, President, Tampa Bay Partnership
It will do nothing but help improve the community’s economy and quality of life for the residents who live here.
 
Mike Kovak, High Tech Corridor/USF Engineering
It will be the nucleus of the focus for a lot of biotechnology advancements that are going to take place here in the Tampa Bay region .
 
Marina Rivers, UCH, RN, CSU
I am really excited about the new building and, from what we understand as nurses, we will be able to spend more time with our patients and less time with the chart and paperwork.
 
Dona Rook, Cardiovascular, Clinical Specialist
We will be able to market the exceptional care that we provide.
 
Debbie Martoccio, UCH, CNO and VP Patient Care
I think it will be a great opportunity to recruit new staff and get clinicians excited about their practice here.
 
Mary Lynn Banning, UCH Foundation Board Member
I am just excited and delighted to be part of that team.  To be part of working towards a goal that is so special for our community, for all the people within the community. 

Tom McEwen, Retired Sportswriter
No one is prouder than Polly Pepin, her family, Tommy and all of Art’s friends at this great new institution that is going to be named for him.  They tell me it’s the best.  Anything else would be unacceptable.  I can assure you of that and Arthur would get us with the wrath that he could conjure from Heaven if we did not make it the best.