Covering Annandale, Bailey's Crossroads, Lincolnia, and Seven Corners in Fairfax County, Virginia

Peterson family donates $20 million to Inova

The Life with Cancer program is based at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute.

The Peterson family has donated $20 million to Inova, the hospital system announced April 16.

This donation will provide funding for two critical needs: $15 million will support Inova’s Life with Cancer program, and $5 million will go toward the expansion of the emergency room at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Over the past 30 years, Peterson family patriarch, the late developer Milt Peterson, has given more than $50 million to Inova, including this latest transformational gift.

Life with Cancer provides education and psychosocial support to individuals affected by cancer through free classes, mentoring, and related holistic care. The program will be renamed Inova Peterson Life with Cancer.

Related story: Inova gets a $10 million gift

Carolyn and Milt Peterson helped launch Life with Cancer in 1988 following Carolyn’s bout with cancer and subsequent recovery. Milt, the founder of the Peterson Cos., passed away in 2021 at age 85.

The Peterson family is continuing to host an annual Lobster Extravaganza in their backyard that raised more than $20 million for Life with Cancer since 1998. In 2014, the Peterson family donated $10 million to Inova, which has inspired others to give.

“We are deeply proud of the tremendous impact that Life with Cancer has had for the community over the past 36 years, and it means so much to our family to be able to support and help ensure its future impact as well,” said Lauren Peterson, the daughter of Milt and head of the Peterson Family Foundation.

The $5 million contribution to the Fairfax Hospital emergency department will support a critically needed expansion designed to meet surging demands for emergency care in the region.

The redesigned ER will feature more beds for patient privacy, a new EmPATH unit to create a more wholistic experience for behavioral health patients, and a thoughtful family environment and dedicated entrance for pediatric emergencies.

The ER at Fairfax Inova Hospital is the fourth busiest in the nation and is Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 Trauma Center.

6 responses to “Peterson family donates $20 million to Inova

  1. I have a question so rich people pay low wages then collects millions and billions then give the money away to other companies as donations that they themselves make billions of profits. I am sure there is tax right offs no doubts. But can people explain what is there though process to give there wealth to billion dollar for profit complains I am very wealthy myself so I have their mindset but still can not figure it out. I know most of them are very immoral and not God fearing but they play the part because most of these people believe there lies because they themselves are lost in life and are not really happy inside. Let the comments rip out

  2. Hopefully your self-proclaimed wealth will preclude the need for you ever to avail yourself of INOVA medical services, funded in part through the generosity of the Peterson family.

  3. Thank you Peterson Family
    You are one of the few that give back generously. Just imagine if more billionaires would fallow your lead
    🙏♥️

  4. So glad you all above are very old and this very bad mean old generation with these kinds of negative answer will soon be gone from VA very back ward mentality people. Look at your answers full of haters and anger 😡

    1. Wishing death on people you don’t know – who didn’t say anything remotely offensive – in reference to an article that is reporting good news is dumb and immoral.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *