Simpler Family Donates $250,000 to Baptist Health Care Foundation

12/14/2023

Sammye and Ken Simpler and their family made a $250,000 gift to the Baptist Health Care Foundation. The Foundation has named Baptist Hospital’s women’s imaging center in honor of their transformational gift. The women’s imaging center at the new Baptist Hospital campus features the latest equipment, technology and features to provide a safe and healing environment for its patients, including a new CT scanner for cancer and cardiac imaging, 3T MRI to allow for quicker scans and digital 3D mammography machines for biopsies.

“We love living in the Pensacola community, and we recognize the importance of having a state-of-the-art facility with excellent staff and clinicians,” Ken Simpler said. “We’ve seen the commitment that Baptist has made to our great city. We wanted to give back to Pensacola by supporting this incredible addition.”

For the Simpler family, giving back to their community has always been a priority. Growing up, Sammye Simpler learned the importance of helping others from her grandfather, who founded Publix, a Florida-based company that has incorporated a giving culture within the communities that they serve for more than 90 years. She instilled those same values into her children, Lea Richardson and Clay Simpler, who also grew up working in the family business and seeing first-hand the impact that philanthropy can have on a community.

“We are extremely grateful for the Simpler family for trusting Baptist, not only with their health care but also with their philanthropic giving,” said Mark Faulkner, president and CEO, Baptist Health Care. “We are excited to bring the latest technology to the new Baptist Hospital campus to support women’s services through our imaging center.”