Financial Facts and Philanthropic Results

Thanks to your generous support, 2006 was an amazing year for Mayo Clinic in terms of medical discovery, treatment breakthroughs and growth.

In 2006, more than 92,000 benefactors made gifts to Mayo Clinic. Their support makes an important difference in patient care, biomedical research and medical education.

In recent years, approximately 85 percent of all dollars given to Mayo have come from grateful patients and friends of Mayo. Corporations and foundations also provide generous support of our programs.

Graphs and Charts

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  Philanthropic Results, 2002-2006

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  Designated Areas of Gift Giving

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  Number of Benefactors in 2006

Patient Care

• A 70-member Mayo Clinic team successfully separated conjoined twin daughters Abbigail and Isabelle Carson of Fargo, N. D.
• Mayo Clinic collaborated with Gamma Medica and GE Healthcare to develop a diagnostic device that is sensitive enough to detect breast tumors as tiny as one-fifth of an inch in diameter.
• A Mayo Clinic team developed a new medical device that helps patients control their breathing when undergoing computed tomographic (CT) fluoroscopy-guided biopsies. The Interactive Breath-hold Control — the first of its kind — allows physicians to more rapidly and accurately diagnose patients, reducing the need for a more invasive surgical biopsy.
• Mayo Clinic radiology researchers developed a new technique for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to accurately measure the hardness or elasticity of the liver. Initial tests show this technology — called MR Elastography (MRE) — holds great promise for detecting liver fibrosis, a common condition that can lead to incurable cirrhosis if not treated in time.
• Radiologists and radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic began using tiny glass bubbles filled with radioactive material to deliver high doses of tumor-killing radiation directly to liver tumors.
• Mayo Clinic announced a new community outreach initiative in Jacksonville called "Live Well. Think Well." This community outreach program was created to educate African-Americans about healthy brain aging and memory disorders.
• Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that a protein that plays a key role in holding cells together also is involved in breaking them apart and promoting their movement when tumors begin to spread to other parts of the body. The finding helps illuminate the very first steps involved in metastasis, the spread of cancer that makes the disease difficult to treat and suggests that a future drug might be able to block the beginning of this dangerous process, or stop it once it starts.

Honors and Achievements

• In May, Mayo hosted the Mayo Clinic National Symposium on Health Care Reform, which brought together leaders from academia, business, government, health care media and patient advocacy to discuss real solutions for health care reform.
• For the third consecutive year, Mayo Clinic was named one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune magazine in its annual compilation of companies that "rate high with employees."
• Mayo Clinic ranked as the nation's top performer in quality and accountability measurements in 2006, according to University Health System Consortium. Mayo was first in a group of five consortium members recognized for demonstrating excellence in delivering high-quality, safe, effective and equitable care to their patients.