 This exciting day has finally come. Welcome everyone to this historic gathering to cut the ribbon on our new and vital State of the Science Research and Academic Center. We gather here tonight in celebration of a milestone event in the 119-year history of our great hospital. This magnificent new building signifies a reaffirmation of Winthrop's commitment to our mission of caring for the sick and injured, teaching and research. You know, this enhancement of our academic and research programs gives us that continued ability to attract the finest physicians. When we were looking to pick a successor to our last CEO, John put his hat in the ring and he sent me a multiple-page preci on his vision, his 10-year vision for Winthrop Hospital. Very interesting piece, not the least of which was raising the prominence of our research and academic programs. I do commend my colleagues on the board for pushing that project forward, which really solidifies the tripartite mission here at Winthrop. We provide excellent care to our patients every day. We also train physicians. That's the second part of what we do. And the third part is we do cutting-edge research. We are seeking significant scientific achievement. The building itself, it's simply a wonderful addition to the Winthrop campus and to the village of Miniola. It's exciting to be here and it's exciting to see the building done from start to stop. It's been a great project. It's going to be a big boost to the downtown area here at Miniola. Having an edifice like this just adds another element of notoriety to a wonderful institution. It's been wonderful for a long time. Both as a patient and as a board member, I think we're incredibly fortunate to have this institution render backyard. In the area of research, we realigned internally subsidized funding to focus on diabetes and obesity, and recruited Dr. Alan Jacobson from the Jocelyn Diabetes Center in Boston to serve as our new chief research officer. This has the added benefit of focusing on chronic disease, which will enable Winthrop to better manage these patients in a bundled and cost-effective way. We're in the midst of recruiting senior researchers in particular in diabetes and I've been working closely with faculty at Stony Brook, led by the dean for research, Lena Obed. She and I are on the phone regularly and trying to collaborate not only to recruit the best person, but then to ascertain how best to link the metabolic studies, the obesity studies, the diabetes studies together with that. The exciting part about the research is that the very early research that was done in diabetes has helped other diseases and what we've been learning about curing and treating diabetes comes from other diseases. So there's this intermingling that happens at the level of research. We are challenging our research professionals to seek a cure, not just to be complacent with publishing papers and articles, but to in fact actually seek a cure for this disease. The whole management of technology now is a technological framework. It's using insulin pumps, sensors, glucose meters. So we wanted this building to reflect that and most importantly by having the second floor of this building for the clinical diabetes, the third floor and the fourth floor research, it's the translational component of taking the work of the scientists and meshing it with the clinicians to help the patients. It provides ways for the flow of knowledge as you'll see when you walk through the building and you can move from what you often call the bench to the bedside and back again. By embodying that spirit, it also sets an example for the entire organization that it's possible to create a translational research effort and indeed it's a goal for us to aspire to. We're in the new Winthrop University Hospital Simulation Center. Simulation is all about providing an immersive experience for the learner and that is an opportunity for them to really get involved with the material that we're trying to teach them. We have the state-of-the-art mannequins, high technology mannequins. They speak, they breathe, they have pulses, their pupils react to light. We have standardized patients that we utilize which is a real person who is an actor and actor is portraying a patient. It allows our clinical providers to interact with a real person to work on interpersonal communication skills. We have a state-of-the-art AV system. We can record in any room including our hallways. We can track patient movement and really work to improve the system that our care is provided in. This is an institution of service. You know, when you are raising for a campaign $25 million and we're at $22 million now, you have to have what we say in the field a case for support. This building will benefit employees now and the future in two ways. One, it provides an excellent environment for teaching and learning and research. And two, the more research we do, the more attractive Winthrop is to better physicians, clinical staff which indirectly supports the hospital and makes it successful in meeting our goals and objectives on our mission. We're very proud and that's what we experience with the employees. They're very proud and they're very dedicated to what they do here and it was great to get them involved and they could show their support. You could see how much they rallied around it just by the names on the walls. I've been part of the Winthrop community since 1991 which is 24 years and Winthrop has allowed me to do what I do best and that's take care of patients. I couldn't help but give back and it's something that I'm excited to be part of and I hope I can continue for many years to come. I want to encourage others to take part in this unbelievable project. Thank you, especially thank you to all of our contributors who have supported this capital campaign which is ongoing so we're always looking for new friends as well. The Treeburg Conference Center is a space that we hope will be incredibly welcome, one for the people that are going to come to this center to pursue their academic and research endeavors. We also hope that it serves as a great forum for the community to come together. Obviously it feels terrific but even more so because it represents the continuation of a commitment that my father and mother had made that a hospital going back before my tenure on the board. John began his career in 1978 and he became the academic dean in 1999 and his leadership was pivotal in facilitating Winthrop's formal designation as a clinical campus of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine. A major achievement that has transformed Winthrop into a nationally recognized academic health center. Children are very important to me. I have a grandson who developed type 1 diabetes at 11 months so having an area that is friendly to children where they can feel comfortable is very important and having my name associated with that is of great value to me. Special thanks also to the architects Perkins Eastman. And if you like the way this building looks on the outside and the inside there's the man who designed it, Evan Wormacheck. This hospital has been a clinical powerhouse for many years and remains so. We now do many cutting edge techniques. We've always been well known for that. Our patients love this institution but what they haven't probably known is what we've contributed to society. And I think it's time for Winthrop to grow up in that direction. We've done it and now we can show it and people will all know it. I have very confidence looking into the future that we'll be a regional and national center of excellence for diabetes care and diabetes research. What you see before you today is a culmination of a truly collaborative process involving architects, construction workers, engineers, employees, trustees, donors and medical staff. So with that I would especially like to thank the Medical and Education Committee of the Board under the leadership of Ed Travellanti, Charles Strain, our chairman and all of our trustees for their leadership of this multi-year endeavor. So my job as chief research officer is three-part. Get the right people who can do the best work and help them so that they can make the biggest difference. I thank you for collaborating with me in this ongoing effort because as said, building the building is really the start not the end of this mission. Thank you very much.