From the Duke News Service

Jan. 27, 1999

Hardee's Food Systems Inc. has donated $1 million to Duke Children's Hospital to help fund a new children's health center, Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Wednesday.

Scheduled to be completed in 2000, the $30.5 million McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center will house all pediatric outpatient medical and surgical services and will serve more than 35,000 children a year. The first "kids-only" facility to be built on Duke's campus will feature bold graphics, interactive toys, kinetic sculptures, an outdoor play area, and on the first floor, a Hardee's restaurant.

"We are very grateful to Hardee's for this generous gift to children's health care," Keohane said. "The new children's health center will help our medical staff provide the most sophisticated pediatric care in a supportive, family-friendly environment."

The children's health center will serve as a model for children's health care in the 21st century, said Dr. Ralph Snyderman, chancellor for health affairs. "The McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center will be the hub of an entire network of Duke pediatric care that includes hospital-based critical care, campus-based outpatient care and community-based health services. In this visionary environment we will be able to pioneer, test and implement new, more effective ways of caring for children."

Hardee's President and Chief Operating Officer Rory Murphy said his company's gift is a way of giving back to the communities it serves.

"It's great to know there are hospitals like Duke," said Murphy, who is also a member of the Duke Children's National Board of Advisers. "The fact that Duke Children's provides $33 million in charity care to children each year speaks volumes about what an important community resource it is. When I visit Duke Children's, seeing the patients really gets to me. And it motivates me to do whatever I can do and give whatever it takes, so that children and their families don't have to go through so much."

Murphy said he hopes the Hardee's restaurant in the new health center will provide a pleasant respite for weary families. "I want our restaurant to be an environment that helps relieve their stress," he said.

In announcing the gift to Hardee's employees, Murphy said the health center will help children in communities throughout North Carolina and around the country, communities where Hardee's employees and customers live. Hardee's Vice President for Human Resources Tim Ozment's son David has been a Duke Children's patient for 13 years.

"Duke Children's Hospital has been an important part of our lives due to the brain tumor our son had," Ozment said. "David has often had a very difficult time, considering the surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation he has gone through. Without a doubt we have David today because of the quality of care he has received at Duke. There were many days and nights when Duke became our second home."

To announce the gift, Hardee's brought three NASCAR drivers, Jeff Burton, Kevin Lepage and Chad Little — all members of the Hardee's All-Star Racing Team — to visit patients at Duke Children's Hospital. Murphy said the visit is indicative of how Hardee's will continue to foster its long-standing partnership with Duke Children's.

Hardee's Food Systems Inc., a North Carolina corporation with its headquarters in Rocky Mount, is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants Inc., a Delaware corporation based in Anaheim, Calif. CKE Restaurants Inc., is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as CKR. Hardee's owns and operates a system of approximately 3,000 quick service restaurants in 34 states in the U.S. and 11 other countries.

Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center provides comprehensive health care for children from birth through adolescence. It is the largest charity care provider for children in North Carolina.

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