Visionary Donor Gives $10 Million to Sequoia Hospital

Largest-ever gift provides vital funding to the hospital’s award-winning cardiac program amidst the financial challenges of COVID-19.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (July 28, 2020) – Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital has announced that it is the recipient of a generous $10 million gift from a private foundation in the Bay Area, which wishes to remain anonymous. The donation was made through the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, and will be applied to substantial renovations within the hospital’s Heart and Vascular Institute.

“Sequoia Hospital is proud of our rich history in the field of cardiac and vascular medicine,” said Bill Graham, Sequoia Hospital President and CEO. “Within our Heart and Vascular Institute’s cath labs, nationally renowned cardiac electrophysiologists continue to pioneer leading research and development of heart rhythm management treatment and devices, making Sequoia one of the highest performing institutions on the West Coast. The partnership of philanthropy enables us to look ahead and empowers us to advance our patient care and outcomes even more quickly in this area.”

Vital Support During a Challenging Time
Like medical facilities across the nation and globe, Sequoia Hospital has had to divert much of its financial resources to the COVID-19 response. While the hospital continues to offer the same advanced, award-winning cardiac care for which it is well known, it cannot at this time fund updates to non-COVID-19 hospital programs and projects. At this challenging time, community donations such as this one are essential to a hospital’s operations and ability to provide high-quality, world-class care to the community.

“This transformational gift is visionary,” said Hardwin Mead, MD, physician leader at Sequoia Hospital’s Heart and Vascular Institute. “The enhancements to our cardiac electrophysiology laboratories will measurably advance cardiovascular care at Sequoia—allowing us to continue providing state-of-the-art technology for cardiac procedures and helping patients achieve their therapeutic goals in the most efficient and safe manner possible.”

A Legacy of Pioneering Cardiac Care
Sequoia Hospital’s Heart and Vascular Institute was an early trailblazer in innovative cardiac care. The hospital’s electrophysiology program was founded in 1984 by Dr. Mead and Roger Winkle, MD, to treat cardiac arrhythmias, abnormal heart rhythms that typically develop when disease or injury disrupts the heart’s electrical signals, causing the heart to beat erratically. An estimated 2.7 million Americans are impacted by atrial fibrillation, one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias in the world. Cardiac ablation, a procedure to scar or destroy the faulty heart tissue causing abnormal heart rhythm, is becoming the best practice for treating conditions like atrial fibrillation.

In recent years, Sequoia’s electrophysiology program was responsible for establishing Sequoia as the first facility on the West Coast to implant groundbreaking leadless pacemaker technology, and the first on the West Coast to implement a type of irrigated ablation catheter that can resolve irregular heartbeat after only one treatment. To date, Sequoia’s electrophysiology program has performed more than 6,000 ablations for atrial fibrillation and more than 10,000 cardiac ablations in total. The program is internationally recognized and, thanks to meticulous data collection and sharing, has been featured in innumerable peer-reviewed publications.

“Sequoia’s cardiac cath labs are central to our Heart and Vascular Institute,” said Dieter Bruno, MD, Sequoia Hospital Chief Medical Officer. “Updating them with the latest equipment and technology is critical to the delivery of the high level of care Sequoia’s patients expect and deserve. This remarkable gift allows us to immediately proceed and to put the latest tools in the hands of Dr. Mead and his colleagues.”

Largest-Ever Gift to the Hospital Foundation
The $10 million dollar gift to Sequoia Hospital represents the most significant single donation in the history of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation.

“We are humbled by the exceptionally generous and powerful nature of this gift,” said Jennifer Svihus, President of the Sequoia Hospital Foundation. “Although the donor has opted to remain anonymous, the impact of their giving on Sequoia’s patients will be felt and recognized by many for years to come.”

To learn more about how to support the Sequoia Hospital Foundation, please call 650.367.5657 or visit sequoiahospitalfoundation.org.
To learn more about Sequoia Hospital, please visit dignityhealth.org/sequoia.

 

About Sequoia Hospital
Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital is an accredited, not-for-profit community hospital providing innovative and exceptional health care for generations of Bay Area residents. Sequoia’s Heart and Vascular Institute is a nationally known pioneer in advanced cardiac care. Sequoia has received national recognition from Healthgrades for superior patient safety and was named as one of America’s top 100 hospitals for cardiac care. Our Total Joint Replacement program is a designated Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement, and our Birth Center is consistently ranked as a favorite among Peninsula families. We are also known for our comprehensive emergency care and leading-edge tomosynthesis 3-D mammogram technology. Our state-of-the-art Pavilion combines the most advanced medical and surgical services with a unique healing environment, including private, spacious rooms and inviting garden areas.