The gift is a private donation from San Francisco residents Lynne and Marc Benioff, which is the largest amount ever granted to the UCSF Children’s Hospital. In honor of the donors, the hospital is being officially renamed UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. The new name will apply to the current facility at UCSF’s Parnassus Heights campus and to the future UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital at Mission Bay, part of a 289-bed integrated hospital complex for children, women and cancer patients that is scheduled to break ground this year.
The 183-bed UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital is expected to be completed in 2014. It is designed to set new benchmark for patient- and family-centered health care, safety, sustainability and translational medicine. It will feature urgent and emergency care, pediatric primary care and specialty outpatient services. The hospital will house 45 additional beds than the current hospital and an on-site helipad.
The UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital will be distinct with child-friendly décor. The rooms and resources will be designed to promote the healing process. Spacious rooms will enable parents to stay with their children around the clock. Thousands of square feet of rehabilitation, play therapy, and outdoor garden areas will complete the space.
The entire hospital complex will be embedded with sustainable design features and will be certified with LEED-Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council. The measures employed at the hospital including energy and water conservation, green roofs, and selection of non-toxic materials will be among the most extensive in any urban US hospital.
Marc Benioff is the founder, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, the San Francisco-based enterprise cloud computing company.
