Stanford Launches $1 Billion Campaign to Transform Medicine

Stanford University has launched a $1 billion campaign to change the face of medicine locally, nationally and globally, Stanford President John Hennessy announced Monday.

The Campaign for Stanford Medicine will pour money into research, teaching, the new Stanford hospital, and will build a bridge between medical breakthroughs and patient care.

The campaign is today already halfway toward its goal, with $500 million promised from individual and corporate donors, according to an announcement by Stanford.

At the current Palo Alto Stanford hospital site, the campaign will help fund construction of the new facility, which is replacing aging buildings and bringing the structures up to seismic standards.

Major funders for the initiative include Tashia and John Morgridge, Anne and Robert Bass, and the Redlich family, who each gifted $50 million. The Morgridges and the Redlich family will each have one of four patient care pavilions named after them.

A number of Silicon Valley corporate heavyweights have also signed onto the campaign, including Apple, eBay, HP, Intel, Intuit and Oracle, which were founding members of the Stanford Hospital Corporate Partners initiative with pledges of $175 million each. NVIDIA also joined this group in April.

“Providing the most advanced health care possible to people — locally, nationally and globally — will be one of the great challenges of this century,” Hennessy said. “The Campaign for Stanford Medicine draws upon our particular strengths — the proximity of the university to its hospitals and clinics — to focus on this issue and better serve the public. It will allow us to seek solutions to some of medicine’s most daunting problems, and it will begin in our own community with the new Stanford Hospital. With the early support of visionary and generous partners, and others who will join us in this venture, we will realize a new, transformative model of health care.”

The new hospital, which is under construction now, will include flexible spaces that will eliminate the need for separate patient prep and recovery areas for all procedures, including surgeries and catheterizations, according to the announcement. These spaces are expected to reduce infection risks and improve outcomes.

The 823,000 sq. ft. hospital will expand the capabilities of its level-1 trauma center by offering 59 treatment bays for patients, all of which will be private and surrounded by gardens and views of the foothills, according to the announcement.

John and Tashia Morgridge’s commitment stems from their longstanding connection to Stanford. John Morgridge was CEO of Cisco Systems and received his MBA from Stanford and teaches at the Graduate School of Business as well as serving on the hospital’s board of directors.

“It is a combination of the unique capabilities of the valley, combined with the unique, broad capabilities of Stanford and a very strong medical research and teaching and translational hospital,” he said. “You need all of those if you’re going to take on the global issue of health care, and I think this is an opportunity to do that.”

Christopher Redlich, also a Stanford graduate, said his gift to the hospital fits within his large vision of transforming health care.

“I’ve made my gift to the new Stanford Hospital because it is the first link in a very long chain of events that will lead to the improvement of medicine in this country,” Redlich said. “By putting this hospital in this location, in this university, we will be able to attract the best people, we’ll be able to provide the best medical services, and we’ll be able to adjust and adapt as medicine changes throughout time.”

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