Charles and Elise Nail have sailed thousands of miles across the world together, sport fishing on their boat, Marlin on the fly. Ever the adventurers, they love exploring favorite stops in Africa, spotting polar bears in the Svalbard Islands and savoring wine tastings on barge trips in France.

But perhaps their most significant trip was a five-hour ambulance ride up the Florida Turnpike from their home in Delray Beach to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville when Charles experienced a critical health crisis in 2018.

His hometown physician told him he required the specialized, multidisciplinary care only a university hospital system could provide. But the weather wasn’t cooperating for a planned helicopter flight. Instead, Charles and an ambulance crew departed for Gainesville — his first time visiting.

“Without those teams of doctors, Charles wouldn’t be sitting here today,” Elise Nail said. “We want to make sure we do our part to enable that type of care to continue.”

Since 2020, Charles and Elise Nail have given generously to the University of Florida. After their initial brush with UF Health, the couple made gifts to support a research coordinator for Thomas Read, MD, FACS, FASCRS, and to start a fund to expand fellowship training in vascular surgery.

Now they’ve continued their philanthropic support by establishing the Charles and Elise Nail Professorship in Colon and Rectal Surgery within the division of gastrointestinal surgery at the UF College of Medicine. While dozens of providers across several disciplines make up Charles’ care team today, it is Read, the Cracchiolo Family Professor and chief of gastrointestinal surgery, with whom they share a special bond.

“Not only do we view Dr. Read as a brilliant surgeon, doctor and leader, we view him as our cherished friend,” Elise Nail said. “He took care of Charles on numerous occasions when we weren’t sure he was going to make it.”

As longtime philanthropists with a particular interest in education, the Nails felt it was important that Read teach others his skillful approach to medicine and empathetic bedside manner. Once the professorship is fully funded, and Read is no longer an employee of the university, it will become the Charles and Elise Nail and Thomas E. Read, MD, Professorship in Gastrointestinal Surgery.

“When you talk to Dr. Read’s students, to anyone who works alongside him, his compassion is evident,” Charles Nail said. “He’s not just teaching them how to be doctors, he’s teaching them how to live.”

The couple feels fortunate to give back to the university that has consistently cared for Charles Nail in his times of need. For them, it’s about training more doctors so that others can also be on the receiving end of the care and compassion they experienced from day one.

“When we were in the hospital, Dr. Read was talking to me while Charles was already taken back, getting all of his vitals checked,” Elise Nail said. “And he and his wife came to me. They didn’t know me from Adam, and they picked me up outside with their two dogs and took me out to see something that wasn’t the inside of the hospital. They were trying to help me be strong for him. And they gave me something: hope and friendship and kindness.”

The Nails are eager for more students to benefit from Read’s tutelage. He has practiced for more than 26 years and still looks forward to coming to work every day. Read acknowledges that he himself benefited from the mentorship of physicians and surgeons during his training, and he believes in paying that forward.

“It truly is humbling to have Charles and Elise give back so generously,” Read said. “Our relationship has grown to be more than just doctor patient. They are my friends. This means the world to me.”

Thinking back to his first time at UF Health, Charles Nail admits his recollection is a little foggy. But one thing he does remember: the innate curiosity and confidence of his medical team. He recalls one of the surgeons walking into the room and saying, “I don’t know what we can do for you right now, but we’re going to figure it out.”

Elise Nail fills in some of the gaps from that visit.

“Within an hour, they put all these teams of doctors together,” she said. “They reviewed everything for about nine hours, even his history from his first surgery at Emory University in 2003. And then a doctor came in and said, ‘I’m your guy.’ And off they went. Teams from infectious disease, colon, rectal, vascular surgery, they all worked together.”

“That’s the difference in teaching hospitals,” Charles Nail adds. “They’re all here.”

The Nails are an example of the difference-makers, the ambassadors, the supporting team behind the team. Apart from UF, they are active volunteers in their community, championing access to education. Every Christmas, they joyfully play Santa and Mrs. Claus and bring holiday cheer to the homes of families in need.

In Gainesville, they hope their generosity is setting up something bigger so that the next person behind Read and other physicians can learn those same skills — right here at the University of Florida.

“We have immense gratitude for the whole university and hospital system,” Charles Nail said. “We walk in and know we’re getting the best care possible. We travel to come here, specifically, when we could go anywhere.”

For the Nails, it’s worth the trip.