While brothers Dave and Doug Wayne match the largest donation in ACH history, they hope their gift inspires others to give as well
(Auburn) – Brothers Dave and Doug Wayne, who founded D&W Diesel in Auburn in 1976, have matched the largest financial gift in the history of Auburn Community Hospital: a $1 million donation.
“We sold our business. Our family wanted to give back to our hometown. We are blessed to be in a position to give back significantly to a community we care deeply about,” said Dave.
“As a family, we did our homework. We thoroughly reviewed multiple charities and agencies across Cayuga County. After completing our due diligence, we felt strongly that the best way to support our community was to make a donation to Auburn Community Hospital,” added Doug.
This is not the first time the family has significantly supported Auburn Community Hospital in its mission to provide comprehensive care to the surrounding Cayuga community. According to Dave and Doug, married to sisters Dawn and Debbie, their late father-in-law Don Doody, a dairy farmer, suffered a serious injury decades ago while tending to cows in his barn.
“Dairy barn floors can be slippery. Our father-in-law lost his footing. Needle-nose pliers pierced his wrist. Manure was then injected into his blood stream. This injury led to gangrene and could have resulted in amputation or even death,” said Doug.
“My father-in-law was rushed to Auburn Community Hospital. He credits their phenomenal care with saving his life. This was one of the main reasons why he donated $100,000 of his retirement to ACH. Now our family continues his legacy of giving back generously to our community by making this $1,000,000 donation to Auburn Community Hospital,” added Dave.
While determining where the Wayne brothers would donate $1 million, they took a tour of Auburn Community Hospital with CEO and President Scott Berlucchi. That is when they saw firsthand the investment in comprehensive care at ACH and plans to expand and strengthen health care coverage for all of Auburn and its surrounding municipalities.
The Wayne Family toured the Upstate Cancer Center at Auburn Community Hospital, which was under construction at the time but is now fully operational, the Auburn Heart & Vascular Institute, and reviewed plans for an Orthopedic Institute, the Auburn Bone and Joint Center.
Mr. Berlucchi also highlighted innovative health care initiatives like the addition of a new PET CT scanner with a nuclear camera to improve cancer treatment and care, two new mammography machines, and a bone-density scanner.
“Auburn Community Hospital is grateful for the generosity of the entire Wayne Family. Their support strengthens our mission to provide comprehensive care to the patients we serve. We are a community-based hospital for all and will invest this historic investment right back into patient care,” said Berlucchi.
The $1 million donation from Dave and Doug Wayne is one of many significant investments in Auburn Community Hospital’s overall $50 million Capital Fundraising campaign, which publicly kicked off during “National Hospital Week” May 11th, 2025, to May 17th, 2025.
“We are deeply thankful to the Wayne Family for matching the largest donation in the history of Auburn Community Hospital: $1 million. We hope to build upon our initial fundraising success to achieve our goal of raising $50 million, which will help us to continue providing the best health care possible to our friends, families and neighbors right here at home,” said Auburn Community Hospital’s Vice President of Fund Development Christine Moulton.
The Wayne Brothers both hope their initial $1 million investment in Auburn Community Hospital will encourage other business and community leaders to give what they can to achieve the goal of raising a total of $50 million.
“At Auburn Community Hospital, they have a plan. Quality, comprehensive care is being provided. It’s happening right now. We saw it firsthand. Now we must keep the ball rolling. We have to pull together to help our kids, our grandkids and our entire community,” said Dave Wayne.
“If everybody pulls together and everybody in the community gives what they can, then we’re going to have a great outcome,” concluded Doug Wayne.
###
