UCSF Receives $50M Gift for Women's Health

UCSF Medical Center will name its new women’s hospital at Mission Bay in honor of Betty Irene Moore, a patient safety pioneer and advocate.

The hospital has received a $50 million gift from Bay Area residents Gordon and Betty Moore to help fund the region’s first women’s hospital and to advance the innovative initiatives of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. The gift is a private donation from the Moores, whose leadership and philanthropy have profoundly influenced health care practices in the United States.

Gordon Moore is a co-founder of Intel Corp. In 2000, he and his wife Betty established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support progress in science, nursing and patient care, as well as environmental conservation.

By bringing attention to such issues as medication safety, central line-associated bloodstream infections and ICU care, the Moore Foundation has helped patients avoid hundreds of thousands of hospital days, improved patient experiences and saved lives. And, thanks in large part to continued support from the Moore Foundation, UCSF has established itself as a national leader in patient safety and satisfaction.

“Gordon and Betty Moore have been amazing visionaries and philanthropists in so many fields, including health care, and we are so grateful for their support at UCSF. We are delighted to have Betty Irene Moore’s name permanently associated with our new women’s hospital,” said Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH.

In recognition of the Moores’ outstanding generosity, UCSF will name its new women’s hospital the UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital. The specialty hospital is part of the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, a 289-bed state-of-the-art hospital complex for children, women and cancer patients that will open in February 2015.

“It is a privilege to have the Moore name associated with our women’s hospital. Betty is an icon, and her longstanding work as a patient advocate is inspiring,” said Mark Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. “The Moores are national leaders in improving the quality and safety of health care, and we are thrilled to partner with them as we work to better the lives of our patients at the UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital.”

Pioneering Women's Health Care

Long recognized as a leader in the field of women’s health, UCSF is home to one of the original six National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health and the only such center in Northern California. The Center pioneered a dynamic and multidisciplinary model of women’s health care, incorporating rigorous research, collaborative clinical teams, training for future providers and leaders, and engaged community partnerships.

UCSF also ranks as the nation’s top public academic institution in women’s health, according to U.S. News and World Report, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is consistently first in the nation in federal research support.

“Gordon and I are delighted to partner with UCSF in establishing the first dedicated women’s hospital in the Bay Area and to build upon the already stellar Center of Excellence in Women’s Health,” Betty Moore said. “We can think of no better place for this investment and look forward to witnessing further advances in the research and care for women patients. Together with UCSF, we will drive a new era of women’s health.”

By establishing the region’s first dedicated women’s hospital, UCSF is uniquely positioned to change the way care is delivered to women and their families. Building upon its history of leadership and expertise in the field, UCSF will push beyond the boundaries of women’s reproductive care and become a hub for translational and precision medicine focused on women at all life stages that will have global impact.

“We are incredibly grateful for the Moores’ belief in UCSF and the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. Their generous support will catalyze further progress in women’s health locally, nationally and globally,” said Nancy Milliken, MD, director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. “The UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital will enable us to deliver care in a facility designed to promote healing while translating 21st century science into innovative personalized health care for women.”

Mission Bay Taking Shape

Patients from teens to the elderly at the UCSF Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital at Mission Bay will receive integrated, coordinated care, in a warm, healing and women-centered environment. The hospital will offer cancer care, specialty surgery, nine deluxe labor and delivery rooms, outpatient services and a 36-bed birth center. Care will be customized to each patient through the best available diagnostic tests and treatments. The hospital will set a new standard for patient- and family-centered care.

Women also will have the unprecedented benefit of UCSF’s world-renowned pioneering research and innovative treatment in a setting integrated with its children's and cancer hospitals. UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay also will be home to the new UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, named in honor of donors Lynne and Marc Benioff, and the Bakar Cancer Hospital, which recognizes longtime supporters Gerson and Barbara Bass Bakar.

The total $1.5 billion cost of the Mission Bay Hospitals Project has been funded by UCSF Medical Center financing and private philanthropy. Of the $600 million fundraising goal, more than $450 million now has been raised.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.