Donor Stories: The Gerson Legacy

Productive lives after trauma, illness

Cleveland entrepreneur Benjamin S. Gerson was in his 40s and living a successful life when he was diagnosed with polio in 1953.

Mr. Gerson received exceptional care at MetroHealth, then called City Hospital, which was the third largest of 13 polio centers in the country. That care allowed him to build a flourishing business and to find fulfillment in his new normal until he died in 1973.

During his lifetime, Mr. Gerson developed a passion for improving the lives of people who were disenfranchised as a result of economic, physical, educational, racial and cultural barriers.

Years later, in 2004, Mr. Gerson’s children generously chose to honor his memory by establishing The MetroHealth Benjamin S. Gerson Family Resource Center and seeding the Benjamin S. Gerson Family Endowment to support the center’s critical work.

Operating under the auspices of the MetroHealth Rehabilitation Institute, the Benjamin S. Gerson Family Resource Center connects patients with community resources after a life-altering event, going beyond rehabilitative therapy to support them as they navigate their new normal. The Benjamin S. Gerson Endowment funds the Gerson Center Community Resource Coordinator’s salary and the important work that happens at the Gerson Center.