SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- San
Francisco General Hospital Foundation (the Foundation) will
receive an historic grant of $75
million from Facebook founder and CEO Mr.
Mark Zuckerberg and
Dr. Priscilla Chan's
donor advised fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for
San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (The General), the
City's largest safety net provider and only trauma center. This
grant is the largest single gift the Foundation has received since
it was established in 1994, and is believed to be the largest
single private gift from individuals to a public hospital in
the United States.
This grant is the vital piece necessary to complete The
General's new acute care and trauma center. This grant will
fund critical state-of-the-art equipment and technology for the new
building and will help convert the existing hospital building into
an ambulatory care facility. The new acute care and trauma center
will open in December 2015. The grant builds on the earlier
investment made by San Franciscans in 2008 when voters
overwhelmingly approved an $887.4
million bond to begin the process of building a new
facility.
Additionally, the grant will enable the Foundation to provide
ongoing support to The General and to the more than 100,000
patients it serves each year. It will also support the
Foundation's efforts to increase awareness for the key role The
General plays in public health throughout the community.
"As someone who has seen firsthand the quality of emergency care
at San Francisco General, I can say that I am personally grateful
for this $75 million grant from Mark
and Priscilla – the largest gift to our City's hospital ever," said
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. "This grant illustrates my call
for 21st Century philanthropy and is a game changer for
the rebuild of San Francisco General, leveraging more investment
for state of the art technology to treat some of the most
critically injured patients and deliver innovative high quality,
compassionate patient care. San
Francisco's residents and visitors will benefit from this
grant for generations because thousands of first responders and
health care providers will have the 21st Century
hospital they need to save lives around the clock. I know this gift
will inspire others to support our General."
"Through my training at The General, I know firsthand the vital
health care and trauma services this hospital provides to anyone
who lives, works or travels through San
Francisco," said Dr. Priscilla
Chan. "Day in and day out, I witness the
compassion and dedication of my colleagues as they work tirelessly
to deliver the best available care to all of our patients.
Mark and I are proud to support such an important public
hospital."
"Priscilla and I believe that everyone deserves access to high
quality health care. The General serves anyone who lives, works in
or visits San Francisco. We can
think of no better place to focus our philanthropy in San Francisco than The General," said
Mark Zuckerberg. "The Bay
Area is our home, we work here, we live here, and we want to invest
in efforts that can make a difference in people's lives here."
"We are profoundly grateful to Mark and Priscilla for their
support and investment in The General and its future. We know
that private philanthropy is increasingly important for public
hospitals and public health and expect Mark and Priscilla's
leadership to inspire additional private support from the
San Francisco community," said
Amanda Heier, CEO of the
Foundation. "We look forward to continuing to work with them to
support our hospital and community for generations to
come."
"As the only trauma center in the City, The General saves lives
every day, no matter who you are. The generous grant from
Mark and Priscilla will help transform The General into a
state-of-the-art hospital and trauma center and enable us to better
serve our patients," said Sue
Currin, RN, MSN, CEO at The General. "Located in
the Mission, The General also serves as a community hospital and a
safety net to more than 100,000 patients annually. We provide high
quality care with compassion and respect to all regardless of their
ability to pay."
"I know personally that San Francisco General Hospital saves
lives every day. It's one of our most important institutions that
serves San Franciscans of every community, regardless of income.
I'm enormously grateful to Mark and Priscilla for this historic
contribution to our community and I look forward to shepherding
acceptance of this unprecedented gift to a public hospital through
the Board of Supervisors." London Breed, President of the
San Francisco Board of
Supervisors.
"We are profoundly grateful to Priscilla and Mark for this
investment in the City's health care system," said David Sanchez, San Francisco Health
Commissioner and member of the SFGH Foundation board. "As a trauma
center, The General provides life-saving care to everyone in need,
and as a community hospital it serves generations of families in
the Mission, Bayview, Chinatown, and across the city."
The new hospital will include two additional trauma rooms and
three more operating rooms. The new Emergency Department will
double in size from the existing one and has the capacity to more
than quadruple the number of beds in the event of a major
emergency. Other enhancements for patients include 90 percent
private patient rooms, 28 more intensive care beds, two additional
palliative care rooms, four pediatric exam rooms and one dedicated
pediatric waiting room in the Emergency Department. The
General will be the only hospital in the City with a base-isolated
foundation, the most advanced seismic resistant design known
today. It will be a "green" building for reduced water and
energy use, and is seeking LEED Gold Certification. In
recognition of this transformative gift, the City has begun the
process of adding their names to the hospital which will be named
Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and
Trauma Center.
The General has served the City and County of San Francisco and northern San Mateo County for 140 years, from the Gold
Rush to the 1906 earthquake to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the 2013
Asiana Airlines crash at San Francisco International Airport.
As the City's public hospital, The General is a member of the San
Francisco Health Network, an integrated delivery system operated by
the Department of Public Health that provides all levels of care to
San Franciscans.
Today, The General remains at the forefront of health care. It
became the first hospital in the country to be certified for a
Traumatic Brain Injury program in 2011 and is the only
Baby-Friendly certified hospital in San Francisco. The
General houses nationally recognized Centers of Excellence,
including those in neurotrauma, stroke and orthopaedics and it
provides groundbreaking programs that improve access and quality of
care to the most vulnerable populations. In partnership with
University of California, San
Francisco, School of Medicine, The General provides valuable
training for future leaders in health care. With the new
hospital opening in December 2015,
The General's capabilities will continue to grow, serving diverse
patients with some of the City's most complex and chronic
problems.
For San Francisco Mayor
Ed Lee contact 415.554.6131
For Amanda Heier or Sue Currin contact Charles Zukow at 415.296.0677 or
charlesz@charleszukow.com
For Dr. Priscilla Chan or
Mark Zuckerberg contact Reze Wong at 415-618-8750 or
RWong@SARDVERB.com
About San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma
Center
San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (The General) is
the sole provider of trauma and psychiatric emergency services for
the City and County of San
Francisco. A comprehensive medical center, The General
serves some 100,000 patients per year and provides 20 percent of
the city's inpatient care. In 2011, The General became the first
hospital in the country to be certified for a Traumatic Brain
Injury program. As San Francisco's
public hospital, The General is a member of the San Francisco
Health Network, an integrated delivery system operated by the
Department of Public Health that provides all levels of care to San
Franciscans. The General's mission is to provide quality health
care and trauma services with compassion and respect to patients
that include the City's most vulnerable. The General is also one of
the nation's top academic medical centers, partnering with the
University of California, San Francisco
School of Medicine for clinical training and research.
About San Francisco General Hospital Foundation
San
Francisco General Hospital Foundation (the Foundation) is an
independent, 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation that provides
fundraising support to San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma
Center (The General). The Foundation is dedicated to
promoting excellence in research, education and care for all at The
General. Funds raised by the Foundation allow The General to
continue its long history of providing compassionate and quality
health care to San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. Some of
the programs funded wholly or in part by the Foundation include the
Avon Comprehensive Breast Care Center, Children's Health Center,
HIV/AIDS Division Positive Health Program, Acute Care for Elders
(ACE) Unit, Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center (BAPAC) and the
Orthopaedic Trauma Institute. For more information, please visit
sfghf.org and on Facebook (facebook.com/SFGHFoundation).
Below please find photos for San Francisco General Hospital and
Trauma Center
CONTACT: Charles Zukow |
Charles Zukow Associates
415.296.0677 | charlesz@charleszukow.com
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150206/173941
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150206/173939
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150206/173940
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150206/173948LOGO
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SOURCE San Francisco General Hospital Foundation