Our History
One Vision, One Nemours.
“It has been my firm conviction throughout life that it is the duty of everyone in the world to do what is within his power to alleviate human suffering.” —Alfred I. duPont
During his lifetime, Alfred I. duPont was a successful industrialist, prolific inventor, published musician and quiet benefactor to a multitude of the needy—in fact, he has become the most generous benefactor on behalf of children’s health and health care in modern history. He left behind an estate valued at $40 million and a last will and testament with specific instructions for the creation of a charitable foundation primarily devoted to providing health care services to children. Through his Will, he established the foundation named for the beloved homeland of the duPont family in France—Nemours.
Nemours was incorporated in 1936, the year after Mr. duPont’s death. This charitable venture was to provide care and treatment for crippled, but curable children and care for the elderly, in both instances with priority being given to residents of Delaware where Alfred was born in 1864. Mr. duPont required that the Trust maintain the mansion, also called Nemours, built in Wilmington for his second wife, Alecia Maddox duPont. Today, the estate is known as Nemours Mansion and Gardens.
In 1940 Nemours Foundation opened its first health care institution, The Alfred I. duPont Institute, now known as Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Originally a hospital for crippled children, the Institute was the primary focus of Nemours’ work for more than 40 years. In 1976 the Board expanded the Institute’s mission to encompass more diseases of children. Its growth and evolution has included the lifework of many medical pioneers, as it has become a catalyst to the Nemours system of leading-edge medicine that puts a premium on safety, quality and family-centered care.
Nemours’ second major benefactor and one of the original Trustees of the duPont estate, Edward Ball, was Mr. duPont’s loyal associate and brother of third wife Jessie Ball duPont. Mr. Ball spent most of his life enhancing the investments of duPont and building the assets of the Trust. When Mr. Ball died in 1981, he left the greatest portion of his own estate for the care of handicapped children in Florida.
By 1981, Nemours had established the Nemours Health Clinic, a program of care for the elderly in Delaware. That same year, Nemours also made its second major commitment to children’s health care by purchasing Hope Haven Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, renaming it Nemours Children’s Hospital. Jacksonville had been a second home and business base for Alfred I. and Jessie Ball duPont, where they built a home called Epping Forest to enjoy the warmer climate and the St. John’s River. In 1984, a long-range plan was fashioned for Nemours Foundation: a vision for children’s care in Florida and Delaware, using hospitals and physicians to provide treatment toward a “cure” for a range of pediatric scourges, involving the best skill and talent available for such conditions. Nemours’ renewed vision also called for research and teaching to create the academic environment where excellence can flourish. What better way to spread the duPont legacy “in perpetuity”?
Nemours Children’s Clinic began in Jacksonville in 1984 when Nemours Children’s Hospital was converted to a comprehensive pediatric sub-specialty ambulatory care system modeled after the renowned Mayo Clinic; by the mid to late 1990s the Clinic had expanded in Florida to include locations in Orlando and Pensacola.
In November of 2002, Nemours Board again expanded the Foundation’s mission to add “leadership” as an avowed part of its purpose and to delete the limiting words “acute” and “chronic.” The statement resulted in the establishment of a new Nemours operating division, Nemours Health and Prevention Services, charted to articulate holistic health and preventive care for children, initially in Delaware.
The Trust received permission in 2004 to appoint as many as fifteen directors to the Nemours Board, with a majority of “independent” non-Trustee memberships. In January of 2006 six new appointees began to activate this current design for the organization, now simply known as Nemours, followed by a seventh appointee during 2007.
Two years ago, Nemours announced plans to seek regulatory approval for a free-standing children’s hospital to be part of an integrated system with Nemours Children’s Clinic in Orlando. In June of 2007, Nemours received approval from the State of Florida to move forward with plans to build a health campus, including a state-of-the-art children’s hospital in Central Florida. The expansion of Nemours comprehensive pediatric sub-specialty medical care, research, education and advocacy to the children of Central Florida will enable Nemours to continue to improve the lives of children in those communities and by extension, promote the health and well being of children everywhere.
Because of the generosity of the duPont legacy, Nemours is able to care for more than 250,000 children each year. Through the contributions of more than 4,100 dedicated Associates, Nemours will become the pre-eminent voice for children.
