NRI
Chandigarh Educated Engineer Donates $30 Million
for "The Ahuja Medical Center.”
to Cleveland University Hospital
CLEVELAND, Dec. 12, 2006
Gary Singh
NRI Manmohan (Monte) Ahuja, 60, who has donated $30 million to
University Hospitals, which plans to use the money for a new 200-bed
hospital.
MR. Ahuja is a member of the UH
(University Hospital) board of trustees,
announced his gift $30 million after Northeast Ohio's second-largest
health-care system unveiled an ambitious $1.2 billion expansion.
The expansion plan includes a new cancer hospital and substantial
improvements to neonatal intensive care and emergency departments.
University Hospitals today celebrated the largest single donation
in its 140-year history, a $30 million gift from Cleveland entrepreneur
Monte Ahuja, his wife, Usha, and their family. UH President and
Chief Executive Officer Thomas F. Zenty III made the historic
announcement to more than 700 community leaders, UH physicians,
leaders, donors and Board members at UH’s special holiday
celebration at Severance Hall.
Manmohan Ahuja and Family
“Monte and Usha have generously supported University Hospitals
with their time and talents for many years,” said Mr. Zenty.
“Through this gift, Monte and Usha are demonstrating not
only their dedication to University Hospitals, but to the economic
vitality of this region and to maintaining the highest caliber
health care for the people of Northeast Ohio.”
“In many ways, my life is an example of the great American
dream. I consider myself very fortunate to be so successful in
business and to have such a wonderful family, and I want to give
back to the community,” said Mr. Ahuja, who is Vice Chairman
of the UH Board of Directors and who led the Board task force
that developed Vision 2010. “I can think of no better investment
than University Hospitals’ Vision 2010. The vision is more
than buildings; it is promise to the people of Northeast Ohio
– and beyond – that UH is here to serve them for generations
to come.”
The Ahuja Medical Center
University Hospital will name the future 200-bed East Side hospital
in Beachwood “The Ahuja Medical Center.”
Construction of the medical campus is underway at the 53-acre
site at the Chagrin Highlands, west of Interstate 271 at the Harvard
Road exit – and across the interstate from UH’s existing
Chagrin Highlands Health Center. The Ahuja Medical Center will
feature a comprehensive array of inpatient and outpatient services
ranging from high-tech minimally invasive surgery to leading-edge
diagnostics and procedures. Physician offices and facilities for
community outreach and education programs will round out the plans.
UH hired an internationally known architect who is working with
UH leaders and other health care experts to design a revolutionary
complex that provides a unique healing environment and is conducive
to providing the highest quality of care. The building is being
designed with the needs of patients, their families and caregivers
in mind. The architects also will utilize environmentally friendly
techniques throughout the design.
“The Ahuja Medical Center will be situated within a short
drive of the some of the fastest-growing communities in our market
and will be convenient to our many current patients in those suburbs.
Our strategy is to provide our patients the right care at the
right location to meet their individual needs. We are grateful
that the Ahujas are supporting that strategy in such a significant
way,” said Achilles A. Demetriou, MD, PhD, Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer of University Hospitals.
“The Ahuja Medical Center is one of the most exciting construction
projects being undertaken in health care today – not just
in Ohio, but nationally,” said Chris Connor, Chairman of
the University Hospitals Board of Directors. “Its impact
on health care in this region and nationally will be profound.”
The Ahujas’ gift highlights a year of record donations
and has propelled University Hospitals to the most successful
year of philanthropy in our history. During 2006, more than $100
million has been donated to UH.
Construction of the full-service hospital will begin next year
on 53 acres in Chagrin Highlands, on Interstate 271 at the Harvard
Road exit. UH plans to call the hospital The Ahuja (pronounced
a-HOO-ja) Medical Center, in honor of the Hunting Valley benefactor,
his wife and their family.
The Ahuja Medical Center will incorporate the latest in medical
technology, electronic information, patient safety and environmentally
responsible design. Every room in the hospital will be private,
which will help reduce spread of infection and be more comfortable
for patients.
The medical office building will be open in 2008, the ambulatory
care facility in 2009 and the hospital in 2010, hospital officials
said.
Ahuja gave a short speech at the party after his gift was announced.
Standing at the dais with his family, Ahuja described the hardships
he faced as a young man looking for steady work.
BIO
Mr. Ahuja was born and raised in India and earned a BS in mechanical
engineering degree from Chandigarh's Punjab Engineering College
before emigrating to the United States in 1969. He earned an MS
in mechanical engineering at The Ohio State University in 1970
and an MBA at Cleveland State University.
Manmohan Ahuja had torn himself away in 1968 from a close-knit
family of seven sisters and a brother to catch a Swiss Air flight
from Bombay, $ 12 in his wallet and admission to a mechanical
engineering program at Ohio State University in a folder.
The connecting flight from Zurich developed trouble and landed
in Athens, from where a Greek airline took him to Frankfurt, from
where he was tossed over to London and finally landed in New York
where a snowstorm held him up. He arrived in Columbus, Ohio five
days after he left home to find that his host had left a message
asking him to find his own way to an address near OSU.
"I left on December 23 and arrived on December 28 during
a bitterly cold winter and wondered where have I come to,"
he recalled in an interview. But it was a country, a society and
a system that embraced him warmly thereafter.
He earned money installing gas grills while still at school, found
a job in an auto company when he was still graduating, and went
on to do an MBA from CSU, parlaying his master's thesis there
into Transtar Industries, an automotive and transmission parts
firm founded on a shoestring and staff of two.
Cleveland's gain is Chandigarh's loss. Ahuja still has family
-- mother and four sisters in Panchkula -- and visits home at
least twice a year. "I don't think they have a concept of
seeking out alumni like in US... there is no endowment and no
fund-raising," he lamented, when asked if he had considered
similar contributions to his college in India, which is also the
alma mater of the late astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
While in college, Mr. Ahuja met his future wife, Usha. A gold
medalist for mathematics in India, Mrs. Ahuja was in the United
States obtaining her PhD. She taught mathematics at several universities
for nearly 20 years while also serving as a business partner and
confidante to her husband. Mrs. Ahuja is currently a member of
the UH Board’s Development Committee, and she has been instrumental
in coordinating many events that support UH.
Mr. and Mrs. Ahuja have two daughters, Ritu and Manisha –
who is married to Neil Sethi – and a grandchild, Rohan.
Transtar Industries Inc.
Mr. Ahuja established a small distribution company that eventually
grew into a global success. Today this business, now known as
Transtar Industries Inc., is the leading worldwide distributor
of original equipment quality transmission parts to the motor
vehicle repair industry. The company – with 35 locations
in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico – has annual
revenues more than $250 million. In a major restructuring last
year, Linsalata Capital Partners acquired a majority stake of
Transtar. Mr. Ahuja retained a share of the company and his role
as Chairman and CEO.
Transtar Industries, Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio,
was founded by Monte Ahuja in 1975. Since then, the company has
grown from a two-person single location start-up to a national
and international transmission parts supply company with over
500 outstanding professionals dedicated to providing customers
with responsive service, expert product knowledge and support,
a comprehensive product selection, and on-time delivery.
