The Scalas Have Given Out of Gratitude Since 1985
The Scala family’s long relationship with Cleveland Clinic began in 1970, when young Mike Scala had kidney problems. After a careful search for the best care, “We got into the Clinic, and they saved his life,” says Bill Scala, president of Kenmore Construction Co. Inc., the family business he owns with his four siblings.
Mike, the company treasurer, works every day and is doing fine, says Bill Scala, whose other siblings are Paul and Chris Scala, vice presidents, and Margaret Coletta, secretary.
Their father felt a great deal of gratitude toward Cleveland Clinic for saving his son’s life. When William Scala died in January 1985, the family began donating to the urology department, now known as the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute. “It’s near and dear to us,” Bill says. “We did it on our own. We just decided it was the right thing to do and something the family wanted to do.”
The Scalas have continued giving to Cleveland Clinic every year since. In addition to the family’s donations to the Glickman Institute, Paul Scala also gives to Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease Institute. His wife, Joy, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007 and underwent successful surgery. Joy Scala’s surgeon was Victor Fazio, MD, chairman of the institute. “We are extremely grateful for all his help and all he did,” says Paul Scala, who did extensive research before he and his wife chose a surgeon. “We couldn’t have asked for any better care throughout – from everybody we were involved with. Joy is doing great.”
Adds his brother Bill, “We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had happy endings.”
Leaders in Giving
About a decade ago, Bill Scala joined what is now the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute National Leadership Board. He remembers the first time he met Andrew Novick, MD, the chairman of urology at that time. “Dr. Novick was impressive,” Mr. Scala recalls. “He was a very down-to-earth person, very warm. But then he’d tell stories about the wide range of patients he had treated, from kings to dignitaries to the everyday guy on the street.”
Dr. Novick spent an hour talking to Mr. Scala that day. “He was a very easy person to relate to, and very approachable,” Mr. Scala says of the world-renowned physician, who died on Oct. 18, 2008.
The Scalas see their gifts as a way to help Cleveland Clinic physicians and researchers continue their invaluable work. “There are two ways to help,” Bill Scala says. “Giving time, which is difficult for us to do, or donating money.”
Besides, they know there’s a limit to what they personally can do. As overseers of a business that started in 1956, they know how to reroute an interstate or rebuild a bridge. But fixing a health problem is another story. “We fix sewers and build roads, but there are things we can’t fix,” Paul Scala says. “We want to help someone who can.”
To make a gift supporting the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, the Digestive Disease Institute or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit iSupport, our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
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