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John Muir Health Foundation Announces Naming Opportunities As Part of Its ''Breaking New Ground Right Here'' Campaign

Posted on: Thursday, 25 October 2007, 15:00 CDT

John Muir Health Foundation's Capital Campaign, "Breaking New Ground Right Here," is making a wide variety of naming opportunities available to major donors who wish to invest in the expansion and improvements underway at its Walnut Creek campus.

Individuals, families, foundations, and businesses can participate in the naming program by making donations to support the expansion of critical care areas into a new, state-of-the-art patient care tower that will meet the growing healthcare needs of the community. The naming opportunities, which range from $25,000 to more than $7 million, include emergency department treatment rooms, surgical and rehabilitation areas, the relocated rooftop helipad and even a new roadway that will be built for the expanded facility.

"Through this campaign we are asking the public to remember that the overall health of a community depends on the level of services and expertise that reside in its medical facilities," said Milt Smith, president of the John Muir Health Foundation. "We have been providing superior medical care for Contra Costa County and surrounding communities since 1965, and I am confident that everyone who believes in what we do will help us realize our vision for this effort."

The cost of expansion and required seismic upgrades to the John Muir Health campuses in Walnut Creek and Concord is forecast at $800 million, making this what is believed to be the largest healthcare project of in Contra Costa County's history. The John Muir Health Foundation's goal of $40 million in philanthropic gifts to support the expansion of the Walnut Creek Campus will help reduce impact on the organization's reserves and augment funds raised from bond offerings. Naming opportunities for the Concord Campus are expected to be announced later this year.

Renovation and expansion plans for the Walnut Creek facility budgeted at $621 million include a new, five-story, 347,000 square foot patient care tower that will include expanded areas for the critical care unit, neonatal nursery, emergency, trauma and surgery departments.

The project, which is scheduled for completion in 2010, will approximately double the square footage of the existing medical center to address the needs of the community for more inpatient beds and emergency care. It will also enable John Muir to continue to accommodate cutting-edge medical technology to further enhance its extraordinary patient care programs and services.

"U.S. News and World Report named the John Muir hospitals in Walnut Creek and Concord as among the top in the region," said Smith. "The expansion of our top-ranked facilities will ensure that these award-winning Bay Area healthcare resources will only keep getting better."

To help raise $40 million, early lead donors have already made significant commitments, according to the Foundation, bringing total gifts and pledges to more than $26 million. "We are optimistic that philanthropic-minded individuals, businesses and other foundations that benefit from John Muir's services will add their support to the Campaign, and take advantage of the opportunity to name some part of our new Walnut Creek campus," Smith said.

Two lead gifts include a $9.5 million pledge from The Thomas J. Long Foundation and a $2.5 million pledge from Rossmoor resident Theresa Caygill. In honor of these gifts, the new patient tower will be named The Thomas J. and Muriel T. Long Patient Care Tower, and a highlight of the new facility will be the Theresa M. Caygill Trauma/Emergency Services Department. The Foundation has also received some generous anonymous gifts.

For more information about naming opportunities and how to make a contribution to the "Breaking New Ground Right Here" Capital Campaign, contact the John Muir Health Foundation at 925-947-4449 or e-mail: foundation@johnmuirhealth.com.

About John Muir Health Foundation

John Muir Health Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization established in 1979 to support the nonprofit John Muir Health organization, which serves communities in Contra Costa County, parts of Solano County and Marin County. Locally governed John Muir Health is a leader in high quality patient care that continues to help make possible a number of "firsts" in the region, including the first Oncology Center in Northern California to offer breakthrough technology in the diagnosis of lung and esophageal cancer, the first Novalis stereotactic radio surgery system in Northern California, the first Level III neonatal intensive care nursery in Contra Costa County, and the first and only designated Trauma Center for Contra Costa County.

Source: Business Wire

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