Mission Hospital Laguna gets its largest donation: $10M

Mission Hospital Laguna Beach received its largest financial gift since the facility opened in 2009 when local residents Sue and Bill Gross donated $10 million, according to a news release.

The money will be used to enhance emergency room operations in what will be renamed The Sue and Bill Gross Emergency Department at the hospital.

“I am inspired and humbled by the philanthropic leadership and compassion of Sue and Bill Gross,” Kenneth D. McFarland, president and chief executive officer of Mission Hospital, said in the release. “Their incredibly generous gift will have an immediate and substantial impact on the delivery of exceptional healthcare in Laguna Beach and the surrounding communities.”

The gift will allow the hospital to upgrade imaging technology, accommodate more patients and construct walls to maintain patient privacy, the release says.

“Laguna Beach is our home, and we wanted to help ensure that our community has access to emergency services locally,” Sue Gross, president of the Gross Family Foundation, said in the release. “We feel privileged to have an opportunity to partner with Mission Hospital Laguna Beach and to help care for our community.”

The Grosses’ gift is the second $10 million donation to Mission Hospital since it opened 43 years ago in Mission Viejo, Carrie Miller, the hospital’s grants and communications manager, wrote in an email.

The windfall continues a trend of giving by the Grosses, who also donated $2 million to fund breast cancer research at Hoag Hospital in 2013.

Bill Gross co-founded Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co, and is now a portfolio manager at Janus Capital Group.

McFarland said the couple’s gift brings the hospital closer to completing a $200 million campaign for advanced technology and facilities and programs for the underserved, the release said.