Benefactor pledges $25 million toward new hospital facility

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ The chairman and CEO of Russell Lands has pledged $25 million toward a $100 million capital campaign to build a new facility on the Children’s Hospital campus in downtown Birmingham.

Mike Warren, Children’s Health System CEO, said Friday the gift comes from Ben and Luanne Russell and is the largest in the hospital’s history. He said the new facility would be named after the late Ben Russell, founder of Russell Corporation.

The new facility, which was announced in January, would be completed in 2012.

Children’s Hospital has the state’s only Level 1 pediatric trauma center.