The Journal-World will play host to this year’s Hearts of Gold Ball, which benefits the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Endowment Association.

The event, held every two years, raises funds for a specific project at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The 2014 gala will help pay for the renovation of the nonprofit hospital’s fourth floor, home of the acute rehab and transitional care units.

The Hearts of Gold Ball will take place Saturday, May 10, from 6 p.m. to midnight in the Journal-World press room, 608 Massachusetts St. The location inspired the ball’s theme, “Press On,” which also signifies the mindset patients must have as they rehabilitate and heal.

The renovation of LMH’s 15,000-square-foot fourth floor is expected to cost $4 million and begin in 2015. It will convert the patient rooms from semi-private to private and make the floor, which was last renovated in 1988, more accessible to rehabilitating patients.

“Douglas County is becoming a retirement destination, so we need to make sure the facilities we have are up to the standards and expectations of our constituents,” said Kathy-Clausing Willis, vice president and chief development officer at LMH. “We’re thankful to the Simonses and the Journal-World for partnering with us on this effort. Not unlike what we’ve been through with health care reform, newspapers are also going through some huge changes. Pulling together will make us both stronger in the community and make the community stronger.”

The Endowment Association’s goal is to bring in $300,000 at the Hearts of Gold Ball and then ask the community for help in making up some of the remaining cost. Since 1999, the Hearts of Gold Ball has raised more than $1 million for such LMH projects as the Bob Billings Cardiac Observation Unit, emergency department and second-floor medical unit.

This year’s event will feature dinner and dancing, as well as an auction.

“We’re turning the press room into a ballroom,” said the Endowment Association’s Tracy Davidson.

To buy tickets, support the renovation of the fourth floor or sponsor the event, contact Davidson at 785-505-3318 or tracy.davidson@lmh.org, or visit lmhendowment.org.