If anyone knows the value of a pediatric emergency department, it’s Nicholas A. Mastroianni III.
Growing up in Warwick, Rhode Island, Nicholas— co-founder of the Mastroianni Family Foundation, president and CMO of the U.S. Immigration Fund, and president of Allied Capital & Development of South Florida—landed in the ER more than 50 times as a child for severe asthma and frequent injuries. He broke wrists, arms, ankles, knees, and many fingers and toes while climbing trees, skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, bicycling—and, once, falling off a boat and nearly drowning. “I was always hurting myself,” recalls Nicholas, now 34. “My poor parents. I put them through the wringer.”
Three years ago, while boating with family and friends on the Intracoastal Waterway, a huge shoal wave appeared out of nowhere and bounced him into the air—and he landed hard. “I thought I broke a rib or punctured a lung,” he says. “But we were taking a cruise celebrating my mother’s birthday, so I said I was fine.” He finally went to Jupiter Medical Center, where doctors stayed late to give him the results of the MRI scan. They found several fluid-filled cysts pressing on his spinal cord and a surprising, rare birth defect called Arnold Chiari Malformation. The condition of brain tissue extending into the spinal canal required complex brain and spinal surgery by a New York specialist.
While recovering back home in Florida, aseptic meningitis and post-operative blood clots led to a months-long hospitalization between Jupiter Medical Center and UHealth Miami. While at Jupiter Medical Center, the Foundation team talked to Nicholas about the Mastroianni Family Foundation possibly donating to the hospital’s expansion. It was a no-brainer.
Nicholas and his family—his wife, Jessica; his parents, Nick and Christine; his sister, Audrey; and his brother, Anthony and his wife, Sara—leaped at the chance to help fund a separate pediatric emergency department at Jupiter Medical Center. “We knew how scary the ER can be for a child and wanted to make a significant gift,” Nicholas says. “Jupiter Medical Center’s vision lined up with what really matters to us as a foundation, and more importantly, as a family.”
The Mastroiannis’ $3 million donation helped build the brand new, 6,300-squarefoot Mastroianni Family Pediatric Emergency Department. “Foremost, the level of medical care is critical, with nurses and physicians who are trained in pediatrics available 24/7,” Nicholas says of the emergency department, which opened in May. “Plus, the waiting room has kid-sized furniture and is really engaging.” The children’s waiting room is like a fantasy, with light shows, interactive video games and magnetic puzzles, and bright sea-themed murals throughout. “It’s a great way to take kids’ minds off of why they’re there,” adds Nicholas, who says he drops by every few weeks. “Seeing the department come to fruition is amazing,” he says.
The Mastroianni family is well known in the area for their huge success as real estate developers—their company, Allied Capital & Development of South Florida, is behind Jupiter’s Harbourside Place, as well as numerous residential communities. What many people may not realize, however, is that their beginnings in Florida were modest when they arrived from Rhode Island 15 years ago. “My dad’s success came later in life,” says Nicholas. “My parents had me at 21, and he had to provide for his family by roofing, landscaping, and deck-building. I’ve had a job since I was 13—everything from working in sandwich shops, dishwashing, shoveling snow, landscaping, roofing, and valet parking.”
As a teen, Nicholas reluctantly pitched in at his father’s building sites, which he appreciated later in life.. “Now I value that work immensely,” he says. “I understand first-hand every aspect of construction. I also understand the meaning of a dollar and the effort it takes to provide for your family. My father instilled that in my siblings and me.”
Nicholas graduated from Northwood University in 2008 with degrees in business, marketing, and finance—just in time for a major recession. “My dad’s business being real estate and construction, it took a big hit,” he recalls. “I had planned to join him as a builder, but instead I ended up gravitating to where I was needed: marketing and raising capital globally [via the family’s U.S. Immigration Fund].”
On the home front, it was serendipity that led Nicholas to his wife, Jessica. The two knew each other as infants, back when Nicholas lived in Long Island, New York. “I’d have play dates with Jessica, a daughter of my parents’ friends, from the time we could crawl until I moved to Rhode Island around age 3,” he says. “We even have a video of us where her parents tell her, ’Kiss Nicholas!’ and she starts smacking me. I joke all the time that that hasn’t changed!”
But the baby besties didn’t see each other again for nearly 20 years—when Jessica came to Florida in 2007 to visit her grandmother, who asked Nicholas to show her around. They went to dinner and “just clicked.” Months later, Jessica moved to Florida, and they married in 2012. “We laugh a lot, are best friends, and share the same interests and goals,” says Nicholas.
One of those goals was to have a big family, which they have already achieved. Daughters Giabella, Giuliana, and Gemma (ages 2 to 6) and son, Nicholas IV (born last April), were all delivered at Jupiter Medical Center.
While the proud papa admits he worries about his kids thinking they’re invincible and injuring themselves (like their daddy), ultimately, he is focused on just “raising nice people who care for others and don’t take things for granted.”
He’s also hopeful they’ll grow into young philanthropists themselves. “So often, health care donations come from older generations after some unfortunate trauma happens to them or to someone they care about,” says Nicholas. “Or they realize the importance of leaving a legacy behind for their grandchildren. But you’re never too young to give to what will ensure the health and well-being of yourself and your family, from now into the future.”