University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH), a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System, has received the largest philanthropic donation in the organization's history, a $20 million transformational gift from Danny and Gail Jones, philanthropists and owners of Jones Junction automotive business, at the health system's biennial Starnight Gala Nov. 2.

This investment will be used for operating or capital improvements, expanding services to keep University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health advancing the community's health care. The estate portion of this gift will create an endowment to support behavioral/mental health and the primary care program.

The new bed tower at UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air will be named the Danny and Gail Jones Tower, and Upper Chesapeake Primary Care will be renamed the Danny and Gail Jones Primary Care Program at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. Signage for the bed tower goes up this week. Installation of new signage for the primary care sites will begin later.

The Jones' are Harford County natives and third generation owners of Jones Junction. For more than two decades, Jones Junction and the Jones family have donated numerous times to UM Upper Chesapeake Health totaling nearly $1 million. The Jones family's first leadership gift supported the capital campaign to build UM Upper Chesapeake Medical Center (UM UCMC) in Bel Air. More recently, Jones Junction and the Jones family's philanthropy has benefited Cancer LifeNet at the Kaufman Cancer Center and the Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill.