Orange County philanthropist Sue Gross donates $6 million to Hoag
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian announced Monday that it received a $5-million donation from Orange County philanthropist Sue Gross, which hospital officials said would be put toward expanding services available at the Hoag Breast Center in Newport Beach.
“Many women I have known have bravely faced breast cancer, including my mother and two sisters,” Gross said in a statement. “I’m proud to be able to make this gift in all of their honors.”
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“We are encouraging women to resume their annual breast imaging,” said Dr. Allyson Brooks, the chair of the Hoag Women’s Health Institute. “The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many individuals delaying recommended health screenings.”
Gross said she hoped her contribution would serve as a “beacon of hope” for breast cancer patients and as a reminder to continue the research to advance treatments until a cure could be found.
The hospital said that it would be renaming the center after Gross, calling it the Sue J. Gross Comprehensive Breast Center. This is the second gift by Gross’s foundation in the last six months, with the first in September for the Hoag Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center in honor of her brother-in-law.
Newport Beach resident Michael Zeng, 13, donated 1,000 masks and $5,000 to the Los Angeles Rohingya Assn. on Saturday in Inglewood.
This is in addition to a past gift of $20 million to fund comprehensive women’s services at Hoag. Its women’s healthcare facility was renamed the Bill & Sue Gross Women’s Pavilion.
The breast center is located in the Women’s Health Institute.
“Hoag and the community have been nothing short of tremendous in its response to COVID-19,” said Flynn Andrizzi, president of the Hoag Hospital Foundation. “Hoag simply wouldn’t be what it is today without the support of donors like Sue Gross whose generosity and commitment to the health and well-being of our community continues, despite the uncertainty that has surrounded us. The impact of Sue’s support makes all the difference.”
“This latest gift will enable us to continue our pioneering care in breast cancer and our ongoing quest to advance detection and treatment for a disease that impacts the lives of millions of women around the world,” Andrizzi said. “We are forever grateful for the lives that will be saved and the lasting impact this gift will have on our patients for generations to come.”
Gross said she felt access to healthcare was a critical need.
She said the Sue J. Gross Foundation would focus on healthcare, women’s issues, ocean conservation and education. The foundation, established in 2017, has donated to Hoag, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Doctors without Borders, Mercy Ships and the Alzheimer Family Center.
Gross said that she’s personally experienced the efforts and services provided by Hoag and said that she believes it is a leading healthcare organization in Orange County.
Gross has also donated to $40 million toward the establishment of the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing at UC Irvine.
“Healthcare has always been a focus of my giving and it is particularly critical now given the strain the current pandemic has put on our healthcare system,” Gross said.
“My hope is that my recent donations to the wound and breast care centers at Hoag will contribute to important areas of medicine that may have been overlooked — or that patients may have put off — given the pandemic, but remain critical and life-threatening to so many,” Gross said.
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