Severance Hospital Becomes the First Domestic Medical Institution to Hold a Fundraising Event An event was held to thank all donors to Severance and to share thoughts on the future of Severance. The event, "Severance Fundraising Night: I Am Severance" was hosted by Yonsei University Health System at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on November 21st. This fundraising event created a chance to thank all donors and to ask for official sponsorship so that Severance can take a bigger leap in the future through improved treatment, research, education, and sharing. This was the first fundraising event to be held by a domestic medical institution. Lee Chul, President of Yonsei University Health System, said that "There are more things to be done beyond the developments made so far" and that "Global medical institutions have been focusing on treatment, research, and education, but Severance adds ‘sharing’ to its focus." In terms of treatment, Severance has already proven that its people and software are of the highest level when it introduced its Cancer Hospital which is expected to be completed in 2014. However, it has been said that Severance is still lacking in terms of the setting and tools with which those people and software function. In terms of research, College of Medicine Professor Lee Min-gu (Pharmacology) who has published a paper in the journal "Cell" and the Avison Biomedical Research Center currently being built were mentioned. President Lee asked for everyone’s involvement by saying, “Although research requires bold investments and time for the future, it cannot be done with the power of only the government or companies." In terms of education, Lee mentioned Yonsei University’s International Campus and highlighted the need to nurture talented students with more scholarships, more dorms, and specialized educational support. In terms of "sharing," medical volunteer services in disaster areas, campaigns, medical missionaries, rehabilitation hospitals, children’s hospitals, and mental hospitals were mentioned and added support for such acts of "sharing" was asked. Prior to his speech, President Lee Chul first introduced the history and accomplishments of Severance Hospital. He said, "The five-year survival rate of stomach cancer at Severance has surpassed that of cancer centers in the United States, Severance was the first nationally to attain JCI certification, and its College of Medicine has been number one in terms of research competitiveness for the last two years." He said, "Much like the past during which engineering talents strengthened the economy by developing industries, now talents in the medical field will write a new history of national wealth created by industrialization in the medical field." President Lee Chul said that “The new Severance Hospital which was completed in 2005 was built with one-third of its construction costs contributed by about 6,000 donors" and thanked the donors by saying, “Afterwards, the number of outpatients have increased by 5% on average annually." Meanwhile, blue scarves designed by designer Lee Sang-bong were given to all guests. Lee Sang-bong said on a video message, "I created the gift hoping that all gusts can become one under the name Severance."