Find care now
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911 or seek care at an emergency room.
By Jennifer Thayer
Alexandra Learned Preston and her husband, John Preston, were longtime residents and supporters of the Georgetown community. That support also extended to their hospital, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Their commitment to the hospital and its staff grew as both John and Alexandra experienced firsthand the compassion and unwavering dedication MedStar Georgetown staff have for each patient.
Both John and Alexandra enjoyed long and successful careers, and in 2003, they retired to Georgetown—a community that they loved and cherished.
In 2006, John was diagnosed with liver failure. John and Alexandra turned to the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute for treatment options. Inspired by the care he received, the Prestons gave annual donations of over $100,000 in cumulative giving. Despite a successful living donor liver transplant, John was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2008.
Alexandra continued to support the Institute in gratitude for the care that John received. In 2016, while battling cancer herself, Alexandra made the decision to provide a $1,000,000 estate gift to the Institute. The gift, as directed by Alexandra, will underwrite a research position over several years and will support the hospital’s continued research, medical advancements and the principle of cura personalis—caring for the whole person.
“The Prestons were part of our family here, as philanthropic supporters, as patients, as members of the community,” shares Thomas Fishbein, MD, executive director of the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute. “Their gift and generosity is impactful and will allow the Institute to continue to make advances in the science of transplantation.”
Learn More
To find out more about ways to give, visit MedStarGeorgetown.org/Support or call the Office of Philanthropy at 202-444-0721.
