Three and a half years after philanthropist Christine E. Lynn announced a $10 million gift toward a new women’s center, Boca Raton Regional Hospital was ready to break ground for the $22 million home of the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute.

Hospital and foundation trustees, major donors and other dignitaries used pink shovels and donned pink hard hats for the occasion on April 23, under a tent and across from the current women’s center already in Lynn’s name.

“Gifts to our hospital give you an incredible feeling inside,” said Lynn, who is chairwoman of the hospital’s board of trustees. “I gave this gift for Gloria Drummond’s 80th birthday,” she added about the September 2011 party for the late hospital founder.

The current women’s center is nearly 25 years old and treats close to 100,000 patients a year, Jerry Fedele, hospital president and CEO told 300 invited guests, including medical and administrative staff.

The new center will be built with room to expand, Lynn said in an interview. Services will include breast and pelvic health, specialty care, preventative cardiology and imaging technology.

The anticipated opening is next year, said Jan Savarick, president of Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation, who was master of ceremonies. The center will serve women’s specialized healthcare needs through their lifetime, and “emphasize education about healthy lifestyles so women can be proactive in their own healthcare decisions,” she said.

Savarick recognized all the major donors, among them Harvey and Phyllis Sandler and their daughters Robin Rubin and Amy Ross, who attended. The hospital’s Sandler Pavilion for cancer care and research is in that family’s name. She also recognized the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League, the hospital volunteers. A new pavilion in that name will be part of the new women’s center, too.

A community advisory committee was asked to stand. Pat Thomas, a Boca Raton philanthropist and longtime board member and volunteer, said the large group was asked to give their input.

The groundbreaking was one of three in last few years, including a new emergency room and the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on the hospital campus, which is about to open this summer.

“Boca Raton has a profound spirit of philanthropy I’ve never seen before in my career,” Fedele said. “There’s a feeling of ownership and commitment that is unique to this community.”