Construction of the William J. Syms Operating Theatre was facilitated by the theatre’s namesake, a gun-dealing millionaire who, upon his death in 1889, bequeathed $350,000 to Roosevelt Hospital with the stipulation that the money be put toward the construction and operations of a surgical operating theatre with Dr. Charles McBurney as its director.
威廉-傑-西姆(William J. Syms)手術展示廳的建造由一位經營槍支的同名百萬富翁資助。他於1889年去世的時候，給羅斯福醫院捐贈了35萬美元，條件是，該筆經費必須用於手術展示廳的建造和日常開銷，手術展示廳必須由查理-麥克伯尼醫生做主管。
Dr. McBurney had presided over an operation on Syms some years earlier. Following the surgery, the surgeon received a check from Mr. Syms to the tune of $3,000 as payment for the $300 procedure. McBurney returned the money only to be repaid tenfold following the eventual death of his grateful patient.
多年前，查理-麥克伯尼醫生曾主持過西姆的手術。手術後，這位開刀醫生從西姆先生那裏收到了一張總額達3000美元的支票，用以支付300美元的手術費。麥克伯尼把支票退了回去，沒想到，在他那位感激涕零的病人最終死去的時候，他又收到了總額10倍於所退支票的捐款。
