PALO ALTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced last Thursday (22) that it
intends to commit up to $100 million for the expansion of Lucile Packard
Children`s Hospital at Stanford. This will be the lead gift in the Hospital`s
campaign to add 104 new beds to its Palo Alto campus and expand access to
state-of-the-art treatments for local children.
With the existing facility already operating beyond its originally intended
capacity, growth will allow Packard Children`s to sustain its mission - to
provide the community`s children access to the most advanced cures, treatments,
and technologies, performed by the best minds in pediatric medicine, within a
family-centered environment.
"This gift is an investment in our children`s health, today and in the years to
come," says Carol Larson, president of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
"As a foundation born out of Silicon Valley, we are committed to making the Bay
Area a healthy place for kids to grow up, as well as an innovator in pediatric
medicine. That vision is at the heart of the Hospital`s expansion, and we are
proud to help make it possible."
Half of the $100 million total will be designated as a challenge to the
philanthropic community to invest in the expansion of Packard Children`s
Hospital. The Packard Match will be a 1:2 challenge grant, with every two
dollars given by a donor earning one dollar of the match.
"My mother would be incredibly proud of the growth we`ve seen at the Children`s
Hospital," says Susan Packard Orr, chair of the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation. "We are pleased to carry on her legacy by supporting the next phase
of the Hospital`s development, but we also see this gift as a call to action for
our peers. We need the community to join us if we are going to make a real
difference in children`s health care."
The Packard gift will be yet another achievement in the Hospital`s five-year
Breaking New Ground Campaign, launched in May 2007. With more families than ever
before coming to Packard Children`s for care, the Hospital has planned an
expansion that will eventually double its size, adding new family-friendly
surgical, diagnostic, and treatment rooms. Campaign funds also will be applied
to training the next generation of pediatric leaders and discovering new cures
for childhood diseases.
"We`re inspired by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation`s extraordinary
commitment to children`s health," says Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of
Packard Children`s. "This sensational gift, and the gifts that it will engender,
will help us redefine pediatric care for the 21st century. With our new facility
on the horizon, we look forward to providing even more children and families
with access to the best in clinical care, education and research. This would not
be possible without the ongoing support of our philanthropic community."
Lucile Packard Children`s Hospital
Ranked as one of the nation`s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World
Report, Lucile Packard Children`s Hospital at Stanford is a 312-bed hospital
devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and
obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford
University School of Medicine, Packard Children`s offers patients locally,
regionally and nationally the full range of health care programs and services,
from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious
illness and injury. For more information, visit www.lpch.org.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private family foundation created
in 1964 by David Packard (1912-1996), cofounder of the Hewlett-Packard Company,
and Lucile Salter Packard (1914-1987). The Foundation provides grants to
nonprofit organizations in the following program areas: Conservation and
Science; Population and Reproductive Health; and Children, Families, and
Communities. The Foundation makes national and international grants and also has
a special focus on the Northern California Counties of San Benito, San Mateo,
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. Foundation grantmaking includes support
for a wide variety of activities including direct services, research and policy
development, and public information and education. The Foundation does not make
grants intended to influence legislation or support candidates for political
office. Foundation assets were approximately $4.65 billion as of December 31,
2008 and grant awards totaled approximately $342 million in 2008. The Foundation
expects grantmaking awards of up to $276 million in 2009. For more information,
visit www.packard.org.
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children`s Health
Jose Gordon, 650-497-8489
Director of Development Communications
jose.gordon@lpfch.org
or
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Catherine England, 650-948-7658
Communications Officer
cengland@packard.org
Copyright Business Wire 2009
