Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford on Tuesday announced it has received a $50 million gift from philanthropists Gordon and Betty Moore to fund care and research for children with heart disease.
It is the largest private donation from an individual to the hospital since its original founding gift from David and Lucile Packard. The hospital said the couple’s generosity will be honored by naming the center the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center.
The Moores were inspired to make their donation after a child in their family benefited from care at the Children’s Heart Center, according to the hospital.
“Our grandchild had life-saving surgery at the hospital, and we would like to help make sure the capability is there for others,” Gordon Moore said in a statement.
Moore, a co-founder of Intel Corporation, and his wife also are founders of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which works to create positive outcomes for future generations.
They are long-time supporters of the Children’s Hospital and previously donated to the hospital’s 521,000-square-foot expansion, which is nearing completion and expected to open this fall.
The Moore’s gift will improve clinical care happening right now in the original hospital building, said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Yuan, and allow for even more care in the coming years through the expansion.
“We are honored to have the Moores’ visionary partnership as we strive every day to heal humanity through science and compassion, one child and family at a time,” Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford said in a statement.
“The Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center will provide world-leading cardiac care to patients today, tomorrow and for generations to come.”
The center is renowned for its exceptional overall survival rate of 98 percent— even for patients with the most complex cardiac conditions. Beyond survival alone, the hospital said the goal is now to ensure an excellent overall outcome — from normal brain function for even the most fragile patients, to the ability for children to perform well in school and to exercise and enjoy an active life into adulthood.
Packard Children’s established the Children’s Heart Center in 2001 to focus more expertise and resources on congenital heart disease, the most common type of birth defect worldwide.
Each year about 40,000 children in the United States are born with heart defects, and an additional 25,000 children develop some kind of heart disease.
The Children’s Heart Center receives more than 25,000 patient visits annually and performs 80 to 90 percent of all cardiac surgical care for children in northern and central California.
