LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has received a $10 million pledge from The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation for the construction of its state-of-the-art New Hospital Building, according to an announcement [Oct. 13, 2009] today by New Hospital Building Campaign Co-chairs "Entertainment Tonight" Mary Hart and entertainment industry executive Chris Albrecht.
Mr. Albrecht said that Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is "enormously grateful" to Maurice and Nathalie Marciano, who made the pledge on behalf of The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation. He confirmed that the Emergency Department and Trauma Center in the New Hospital Building will be named The Maurice and Nathalie Marciano Emergency Department and Trauma Center in recognition "...of Maurice and Nathalie's generosity and commitment to the children and families of our community."
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is designated as a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center by the Los Angeles County EMS Agency, and it is the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in Los Angeles County verified by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons.
Mr. Marciano is a co-founder and chairman of Guess, Inc., one of the most recognized and influential brand names in the fashion industry. Mrs. Marciano is a film producer.
The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation is among the ten "Champions for Children," a group of donors who have each pledged or given $5 million, or more, toward the completion of the New Hospital Building at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation also has supported other programs at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, including the Children's Fund and the HOPE Program.
"We were deeply touched by our visit to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and are inspired by this wonderful place of hope and healing," Mr. Marciano said, adding, "we want to invest in the health and well-being of the children of this community for generations to come by supporting the creation of the New Hospital Building."
Mrs. Marciano said, "Children are our most precious resource, and Southern California simply must have world-class health hospital facilities for the sickest of the sick and most critically injured children."
She said that it is clear that there is no other children's hospital on the West Coast that offers "...the unique blend of patient care, teaching and research, together with a family-centered care environment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles," one of only 10 children's hospitals in the nation -- and the only children's hospital on the West Coast -- ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings and named to the magazine's National "Honor Roll" of children's hospitals.
"We are pleased to join the ranks of those supporting this project because we think it's crucial for Los Angeles to have a state-of-the-art facility for children," Mr. Marciano said. "We hope that other community leaders come forward now to help complete the funding for the New Hospital Building."
The seven-story, 460,000 square-foot New Hospital Building will incorporate the latest medical technology, and it will enable the hospital to dramatically increase the number of children that will be able to be treated, as well as improve the quality of the hospital experience for patients and their families.
The 317-bed hospital facility, now 82-percent complete, will expand critical care, medical and trauma services where patient demand is greatest. It will include an Emergency Department and Trauma Center with 30 private exam rooms; leading edge imaging facilities; a 48-bed acute care Hematology/Oncology unit and a 14-bed Bone Marrow Transplant unit; a 24-bed Cardiothoracic Intensive care Unit and a 21-bed acute heart care unit; a 24-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; and a 58-bed Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit. There will be 128 additional medical and surgical acute care beds.
"These new hospital facilities have been years in the making and represent the collective thought of doctors, nurses, patients and their parents, architects and many others who have brought their unique perspective to design facilities that will support the most advanced pediatric medical and surgical practice available, anywhere," Ms. Hart said, adding that the financing of the New Hospital Building is a public-private partnership that depends on state and federal funding, as well as private philanthropy.
"The Marciano's commitment comes at a particularly important time in the campaign," said Ms. Hart, who also is a member of the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees. "We have raised $191 million in private funds for the New Hospital Building, working well toward our $250 million goal, but the economic crisis also has had an impact on fundraising. The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation's gift serves as inspiration to the rest of our community leaders to step forward and help complete the project."
"Our community, broadly defined, needs the New Hospital Building at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, which will be, when complete, the finest medical and surgical environment for seriously ill and injured children anywhere in the United States," said Childrens Hospital Los Angeles President and CEO Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, adding that the completion date for the New Hospital Building is expected mid-year 2011.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States.
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