NEW ORLEANS – Robert W. Merrick, owner of Latter & Blum Realtors, and his wife, Sheryl Merrick, have donated $1 million to the Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center at Ochsner Medical Center. The funds will enhance the center’s recently opened expansion.
“As a five-time cancer survivor, I fully understand the need to expand the Ochsner Cancer Center,” said Robert Merrick. “The need is great. I have lived and witnessed what cancer patients go through on the hopeful road to recovery.”
The newly expanded Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center held its grand re-opening in September 2020. It is now double the size of the previous building. The Merricks’ gift has enabled Ochsner’s multidisciplinary team of healthcare experts to provide patient care, research and education to adults and children in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, the Northshore, north Louisiana, southwest Louisiana and throughout the Gulf South. In thanks for the Merricks’ contribution, the first-floor lobby and atrium are named in their honor.
Merrick’s accolades include the Weiss Award from the New Orleans Council for Community & Justice (2015), the Times-Picayune’s Loving Cup Award (2019) and the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Boy Scouts of America (2015). He has been named Orleanian of the Year by Gambit Magazine (2015) and Ochsner Health’s Moonlight and Miracles Gala Miracle Maker (2020).
