Kaleida Health announced a gift from Scott and Kathy Bieler, through the Scott Bieler Family Foundation, that hospital leadership calls “transformational.” Kaleida Health President and CEO Don Boyd said the undisclosed donation will help support numerous projects across the hospital that will be completed in phases over the coming months and years.
“Today is a great day for the patients and families that rely on us each day to make a difference in their lives,” he said during Monday's announcement.
The gift will support the replacement of procedural laboratories in the Gates Vascular Institute, surgical visualization technology in 11 operating rooms and a new surgical robot. The visualization systems will give surgeons sharper imaging during complex procedures, potentially reducing operating time and risk, while the new da Vinci robot is expected to expand access to minimally invasive procedures associated with smaller incisions, less pain and faster recovery.
“Hopefully, this gift will help Buffalo General Hospital and the Gates Vascular Institute for generations to come, not just the next few years,” said West Herr Automotive Group CEO Scott Bieler.
In honor of the gift, Kaleida Health will change the hospital’s name in January 2027 to Scott Bieler Buffalo General Medical Center. Several images of the new hospital logo were unveiled during the announcement.
Bieler said he and his wife Kathy, former finance and operations director of the McDermid Financial Group, had been considering making a substantial gift and ultimately decided on Kaleida after hearing Boyd speak about the hospital, its employees and its approach to care. He described it as “the right gift for the right organization at the right time.” Bieler also called the gift his family’s way of giving back to the Western New York community that has supported them for years.
“We're not giving anything that we generated,” he said. “It was generated by the support of this community given to West Herr. We're just taking that and re-giving it back, and saying because you supported our company, we're going to make this community better.”
Adnan Siddiqui, neurosurgeon and medical director of the Kaleida Health Neurosurgical Stroke Program, said the investment will have an impact across the hospital and the broader community.
“The beneficiaries will be the patients, their families, the community, the physicians, the nurses, the techs, the administration,” he said.
