Hoag gets $700,000 for nurses

Marisa O’Neil

Hoag Hospital is $700,000 closer to building its own nursing

education center, thanks to the heiress of a local theme park.

Longtime Newport Beach resident Marion Knott contributed the money

to what will be called the Marion Knott Nursing Education Center at

Hoag Hospital, hospital officials announced Monday. Knott, a member

of the family that founded Knott’s Berry Farm, is hoping that her

donation will inspire others to contribute to the roughly $2 million

project.

“I really did not realize there was such a shortage of nurses,”

Knott said Monday. “I was absolutely shocked when I found out they

couldn’t get in the schools and that there’s such a waiting list to

get in to the community colleges.”

The new nursing center will provide training space for nursing

students performing rotations as well as current nurses and new hires

at the hospital, said chief nursing officer Rick Martin. Such

facilities are more common in hospitals associated with universities,

not with community hospitals, he added.

The center will incorporate state-of-the-art technology such as

working mock-ups of emergency, obstetrics and other types of hospital

rooms, Martin said. It will also incorporate a human simulator -- a

mannequin that can be programmed to display a variety of symptoms for

treatment.

“Nursing is an art and science,” Martin said. “The science part is

highly technical. We need to keep our staff up-to-date with the

latest technology.”

The hospital makes nursing a priority because it’s the most

immediate contact most members of the community have with the

hospital, said Ron Guziak, executive director for the hospital’s

foundation.

Knott is hoping someone will match her donation and that others

will contribute even more.

She said that choosing Hoag for the donation was simple.

“If I ever had to go to the hospital, I would go to Hoag and I

want my nurses really well-trained,” Knott said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.