Actress Seymour to Speak at Benefit
By Joy Townsend
WINTER HAVEN -- Actress Jane Seymour will be the guest speaker at this year's annual fund-raising event for Mid-Florida Medical Services.

Active as the honorary chairman for City Hearts, a Los Angeles-based organization that helps abused and underprivileged children by teaching them about the performing arts, Seymour is a good choice as speaker for the Nov. 9 Fall Gala 2004, says Richard Straughn, chairman of the MFMS Foundation.

"We couldn't ask for a better speaker than Jane Seymour," Straughn said. "As a performer and active philanthropist -- and as the mother of six children herself -- she has dedicated her career to supporting family and children's issues around the world."

Seymour, who starred in television's "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" from 1993-98, is an ambassador for children's issues for the Entertainment Industries Foundation and is actively involved with other causes including UNICEF, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross.

The black-tie event is held each year to help raise funds for health care issues, said Joel Thomas, executive director of the MFMS Foundation.

"The emphasis for the fundraising event this year is to help support capital building projects for Winter Haven Hospital," Thomas said.

Sponsorships for this year's event begin at $500 and go up to $10,000. Individual tickets to the event cost $150, Thomas said.

Last year's event raised more than $300,000 for the hospital's scholarship fund, according to Thomas.

"Now that that fund is fully endowed, the trustees are turning their attention to this major construction project," he said.

Renovating and updating areas of the hospital will cost about $24 million, Thomas said.

Plans for the 50,000-squarefoot project include a two-story glass facade around the front of the eight-story Swann building and more convenient ambulatory diagnostic services.

Hospital administrators are developing a facilities growth plan with Kurt Salmon Associates of Atlanta. And they expect to open a recently approved open-heart surgery program in about 18 months.

A pledge for a $500,000 contribution from the Winter Haven Hospital Auxiliary started the construction fund.

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