UMass Medical Winter Ball raises $1.4 million

Courtesy First row from right to left: UMass Medical School Dean Terence R. Flotte, MD; UMass Memorial Medical Center President Patrick Muldoon; UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins, MD; Kate McEvoy-Zdonczyk, 2017 Winter Ball co-chair and vice president for Central and Western Massachusetts for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. Second row right to left: UMass Memorial Health Care CEO and President, Eric Dickson, MD; Gov. Charlie Baker; Eric Schultz, 2017 Winter Ball co-chair and president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and 2017 Winter Ball Co-chair and former Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien, executive vice president of WinnCompanies.

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By Zachary Comeau

UMass Medical School’s flagship fundraiser raised a record $1.4 million for the school and UMass Memorial Medical Center, the school announced Monday.

The Winter Ball, held Friday and attended by Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, reached the $1-million mark for the second straight year. The event, held annually since 2009, has raised more than $7.4 million over that time.

Also hitting a record high was corporate sponsorships, which totaled more than $638,000.

The neonatal intensive care unit at UMass Memorial Medical Center was chosen as a primary beneficiary this year, and it received more than $500,000 from pledges of more than $250,000 and donor matches -- also another record.

The unit cares for more than 600 low-birth weight and high-risk infants annually, the school said.

In a joint statement, UMass Memorial Health Care President and CEO Eric Dickson and UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins thanked the community for their support of the medical institutions.

“Funds raised through the Winter Ball will have a direct impact on our mission,” they said.