Hoag Hospital Accepts $106 Million Donation, Largest Ever
A $106 million donation to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is the largest in the Newport Beach-based health provider’s history and will support its advanced research and “comprehensive, compassionate” patient care, officials said Wednesday, Sept. 14.
The gift from the estate of Audrey Steele Burnand brings the total amount given by the family to Hoag Hospital to $134 million. The family’s support of the hospital dates back to the 1960s when it gave about $8 million to help with cancer and cardiology research and treatments.
“The Steele family’s decades of generosity, continued by the Audrey Steele Burnand estate, have benefited the Orange County community in immeasurable ways,” Flynn Andrizzi, president of the Hoag Hospital Foundation, said in a statement. “Through this remarkable gift, they once again have demonstrated their compassion for everyone who needs outstanding medical care. I can’t think of enough words to properly express how moved all of us at Hoag are by their generosity.”
Steele Burnand, who died in 2020 at the age of 98, was the daughter of Harry and Grace Steele. Her parents lived in Pasadena but spent summers in Newport Beach. In 2006, the Harry and Grace Steele Foundation gave $4.5 million as a final legacy gift to Newport Beach’s Environmental Nature Center. They’ve also given money to the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Orange Coast College, and in 2000, her parents’ foundation gave $15 million toward the acquisition and and preservation of a Dana Point cliff now known as the Dana Point Headlands. They added another $25 million before that deal finally closed in 2004.
Hoag officials say the $106 million gift will help fund the hospital’s innovation, growth and expansion needs.
“From its beginnings in Newport Beach, 70 years ago today, Hoag has grown to dot more parts of the Orange County landscape, improving countless lives along the way,” Andrizzi said. Wednesday was Hoag’s actual anniversary.
“Simply put, we’re driven to achieve the highest level of medical standards and outcomes for our patients, and this gift will help us achieve that goal,” Robert Braithwaite, CEO of Hoag Hospital, said in a statement. “We’re inspired by the support we continue to receive from the community as we help to not only offer the latest advancements in care, but to discover them.”
Hoag broke away from Providence Health earlier this year after a 10-year affiliation. At the time, Hoag officials announced that separating from Providence would allow it to stay focused on a mission to serve the local community.
In March, Hoag officials received a $50 million gift from the Sun Family Foundation to create three new medical institutes at its Irvine campus, expected to open in 2025. The three new facilities will cater to women’s health, cancer care and digestive illnesses.
By: The Orange County Register
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