For Release: March 28, 2017
PALO ALTO, Calif. 鈥 Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford has received a gift of $50 million from Gordon and Betty Moore to deliver exceptional patient care and advance research for children with heart disease. This private donation from the Moores is the largest gift from an individual to Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford since the hospital鈥檚 original founding gift from David and Lucile Packard.
In honor of this gift, Packard Children鈥檚 internationally renowned Children鈥檚 Heart Center will be named the Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center. The gift provides funding for clinical and research facilities, an endowment for the Center鈥檚 highest strategic priorities, and endowed positions for faculty to lead specialized care and research.
Gordon Moore is co-founder of Intel Corporation. He and his wife, Betty, are also founders of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which works to create positive outcomes for future generations. They are long-time supporters of Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford and previously made gifts to the hospital鈥檚 521,000-square-foot expansion which is now nearing completion.
The Moores were motivated to make this gift after a child in their family benefited from the care of the Children鈥檚 Heart Center. 鈥淥ur grandchild had life-saving surgery at the hospital, and we would like to help make sure the capability is there for others,鈥 said Gordon Moore.
鈥淲e are honored to have the Moores鈥 visionary partnership as we strive every day to heal humanity through science and compassion, one child and family at a time,鈥 said Christopher Dawes, president and CEO of Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford. 鈥淭he Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center will provide world-leading cardiac care to patients today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.鈥
Over the past 70 years, innovations developed by physicians, clinical researchers, engineers, and basic scientists have transformed the care of children with heart disease and made life-saving interventions not only possible but routine at hospitals like Packard Children鈥檚. New surgical techniques and medical therapies, some of which were developed at Stanford University School of Medicine and Packard Children鈥檚, have evolved and greatly improved outcomes for children with almost every type of congenital heart disease.
Heart defects that were once universally fatal can now be surgically improved. As patients born with heart disease survive longer, there are now more adults than children in the United States with congenital heart disease. However, further advancements are still needed to ensure a healthier future for patients, many of whom continue to face a compromised quality of life and require subsequent surgeries.
鈥淪urgical intervention can repair, but it rarely can truly cure,鈥 said renowned pediatric heart surgeon Frank Hanley, MD, who is also the Lawrence Crowley, MD, Endowed Professor in Child Health at Stanford University School of Medicine and executive director of the Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center. 鈥淐hildren who have received complex surgical intervention to repair a cardiac abnormality require careful monitoring and specialized care throughout their lifespan. Many of them face repeat hospitalizations and need subsequent interventions. We imagine a day when a child born with a poorly working aortic valve, rather than undergoing multiple open-heart operations throughout his lifetime, instead receives a replacement valve engineered from his own stem cells. Dr. and Mrs. Moore鈥檚 gift comes at a critical juncture鈥攅nabling us to advance beyond surgical repair to the discovery of transformational treatments and interventions and ultimately, to true cures.鈥
The center is renowned for its exceptional overall survival rate of 98 percent鈥攅ven for patients with the most complex cardiac conditions. Beyond survival alone, the goal is now to ensure an excellent overall outcome鈥攆rom normal brain function for even the most fragile patients, to the ability for children to perform well in school and to exercise and enjoy an active life into adulthood. At Packard Children鈥檚, physicians, nurses, and researchers are bolstering capabilities for diagnosing cardiac diseases using advanced imaging techniques long before babies are born. With prenatal diagnosis, the team can provide optimal planning for care at and shortly after birth, and treat some babies even before they are delivered. Furthermore, as more children survive with congenital heart disease, the team is now looking at lifespan care鈥攂ringing together the resources needed to provide comprehensive care to patients from prenatal diagnosis all the way through adulthood.
鈥淥ver the past 16 years, the Children鈥檚 Heart Center has made a national and global impact on the field of pediatric heart disease,鈥 said Stephen Roth, MD, MPH, chief of pediatric听cardiology and director of the Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center. 鈥淲e are committed to providing听 babies and children with heart disease and their families with the happiest, healthiest lives possible, from the early identification of problems, to expert intervention, and finally to a lifetime of care and support.鈥
鈥淒r. and Mrs. Moore鈥檚 incredible gift will not only bolster our clinical capabilities for children and families receiving care now in the Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center, it will also accelerate basic and translational research by 麻豆果冻传媒 faculty and scientists to develop more precise techniques to predict, prevent, and cure,鈥 said Lloyd B. Minor, MD, the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. 鈥淲hen it comes to achieving precision health, we must think as big as we can鈥攏ot just about treating disease, but about making and keeping people healthy鈥攁nd nowhere is this more true than in children.鈥
In 2017, Packard Children鈥檚 will complete its major expansion, becoming the most technologically advanced, family-friendly, and environmentally sustainable children鈥檚 hospital in the nation. The Moores鈥 gift creates an unprecedented opportunity for the Children鈥檚 Heart Center to expand its state-of-the-art clinical and research facilities, train the future leaders of cardiovascular medicine and surgery, and improve the field of pediatric cardiology and pediatric cardiovascular surgery through innovative research.
In the coming years, the Betty Irene Moore Children鈥檚 Heart Center team will build a robust program in basic, clinical, and translational research aimed at improving the treatment and prevention of congenital and acquired heart conditions, including adult congenital heart disease. In addition, the Center will expand its clinical facilities, including a newly designed outpatient center, to deliver the best outcomes for every child.
Packard Children鈥檚 established the Children鈥檚 Heart Center in 2001 as a center of excellence to focus more expertise and resources on congenital heart disease, the most common type of birth defect worldwide. Each year approximately 40,000 children in the United States are born with heart defects, and an additional 25,000 children develop some kind of acquired heart disease.
The Children鈥檚 Heart Center has gained recognition as a national and international destination program for several highly-specialized surgical procedures. The Heart Center is also a full-service cardiology program that cares for patients with all forms of the most complex and challenging surgical and medical cardiovascular conditions. Under the leadership of Drs. Hanley and Roth, the center receives more than 25,000 patient visits annually and performs 80 to 90 percent of all cardiac surgical care for children in northern and central California.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Yuan
Director, Development Communications
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children鈥檚 Health
(650) 497-8489
Jennifer.Yuan@lpfch.org
The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children鈥檚 Health is a public charity, founded in 1997. Its mission is to elevate the priority of children鈥檚 health, and to increase the quality and accessibility of children鈥檚 health care through leadership and direct investment. The Foundation directs all fundraising for Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford and the child health and obstetric programs of Stanford University School of Medicine. To learn more, visit or .
麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health, with听Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital Stanford听at its center, is the Bay Area鈥檚 largest health care system exclusively dedicated to children and expectant mothers. Our network of care includes more than 65听locations听across Northern California and more than 85 locations in the U.S. Western region.听Along with Stanford Health Care and the Stanford School of Medicine, we are part of听, an ecosystem harnessing the potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education, and clinical care to improve health outcomes around the world. We are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the community through meaningful outreach programs and services and providing necessary medical care to families, regardless of their ability to pay. Discover more at听stanfordchildrens.org.
The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation鈥檚 top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit听. The medical school is part of 麻豆果冻传媒, which includes Stanford Health Care and 麻豆果冻传媒 Children鈥檚 Health. For information about all three, please visit听.
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