Located off the Beltway on Route 50, the site of Inova’s innovative cancer center once had a very different focus. Long admired for its size at 117 acres, the wooded campus also boasts an excellent location on the East Coast and is conveniently situated for access to major highways. The former president and CEO of Inova, Knox Singleton, was fully aware of this potential when the four-building complex was owned by the oil giant ExxonMobil.

1. The Birth of a
Multidisciplinary
Cancer and Research
Center
By Dwight Schar

2. The Birth of a
Multidisciplinary Cancer
and Research Center
Located off the Beltway on Route 50, the site of Inova’s
innovative cancer center once had a very different focus. Long
admired for its size at 117 acres, the wooded campus also boasts
an excellent location on the East Coast and is conveniently
situated for access to major highways. The former president
and CEO of Inova, Knox Singleton, was fully aware of this
potential when the four-building complex was owned by the oil
giant ExxonMobil.
When rumors began to circulate that the corporation was
contemplating moving out, Singleton seized the opportunity to
promote the concept for a new multidisciplinary cancer and
research center for the area, reaching out to well-connected
civic leaders and long-term Inova supporters Dwight Schar and
Milt Peterson for their assistance. Schar used his contacts as the
former financial chairman for the Republican National
Committee, speaking to former President George W. Bush and
former Vice President Dick Cheney.

3. Launched in
2019
A deal to secure the campus for the cancer
center was finally reached after former Virginia
Gov. Terry McAuliffe introduced Schar to the
CEO of ExxonMobil at the time, Rex Tillerson. It
may have taken a year of negotiations, but the
site was finally acquired for the Falls Church-
based health system in 2015.
In 2019, Inova opened its cancer center under
the agreement of leasing the campus from
ExxonMobil for five years. Inova bought the site
for $182.5 million in 2020. In addition to offering
a dedicated cancer screening and prevention
facility, the center also provides proton therapy,
radiation oncology and a clinical trials hub,
allowing it to treat around 188,000 patients
every year.

4. A Tax-Exempt Organization
For Dwight Schar, the Inova Schar Cancer Institute represents a
cause very close to his heart. Coming from a poor family that
struggled to access healthcare, his mother’s cancer diagnosis
unfortunately led to her premature death at the age of 56.
As a tax-exempt organization, Inova is able to offer care to any
prospective patient regardless of their financial status,
dramatically changing the prospects of cancer sufferers for the
better. Inova’s stated mission statement is “to provide world-
class healthcare to every person in every community we have
the privilege to serve. In doing so, we commit to actively
building anti-racist and anti-discriminatory communities and a
fairer society.” This access to care has been a key factor behind
Dwight Schar and his wife Martha’s financial donations to Inova,
now totaling well over $125 million.

5. Inova Schar
Heart and
Vascular
After his donation to Inova’s cancer institute,
Inova and Mr. Schar began discussing the
hospital’s cardiovascular programs. Recognizing
cardiovascular disease is the country’s leading
cause of death, as well as the leading cause of
hospitalization in Virginia and nationally, Mr.
Schar expressed his interest in creating the best
possible care regionally, in Northern Virginia. His
donation of $75 million to Inova’s heart and
vascular programs was made in the hopes of
mitigating the effects of this disease and
inspiring others to follow suit.