The donation will be split between UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco and Children’s Hospital Oakland, and the Oakland site will be renamed for the chairman and CEO of San Francisco-based Salesforce.com. The two medical centers will now be called UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.
A previous $100 million donation from the Benioffs is helping fund the construction of a hospital in Mission Bay slated to open in February.
“I think people in some ways are stunned by the Benioffs’ generosity, but they are incredibly grateful for it,” said Mark Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco.
The money will be used to hire additional staff, expand programs and construct new facilities, he said. Tuesday’s donation is the largest ever for Children’s Hospital Oakland. The Benioffs are also the largest donors for children’s services at UCSF.
The announcement was met with “resounding applause” at Children’s Hospital Oakland, said hospital CEO Bert Lubin. The children’s hospitals joined forces at the start of this year in what Laret called a “groundbreaking” step toward fulfilling a vision of making the hospitals the best in the world.