Spina bifida patient, Elizabeth Nario, is joined by the Miller Children’s Pediatric Urology & Nephrology care team to officially unveil the new Larry & Helen Hoag Foundation Pediatric Urology & Nephrology Center.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 18, Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach unveiled the new Larry & Helen Hoag Foundation Pediatric Urology & Nephrology Center – an outpatient center dedicated to providing comprehensive, multi-disciplinary urologic and renal care.
The Larry & Helen Hoag Foundation Pediatric Urology & Nephrology Center merges Miller Children’s urology and nephrology (renal) programs, making it one of the only comprehensive centers of its kind in Southern California. The consolidation of disciplines better serves patients in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of kidney and urological diseases, while continuing to provide quality patient and family centered care and conduct innovative research.
The new Center was made possible by a generous lead gift from The Larry & Helen Hoag Foundation secured by the Memorial Medical Center Foundation, as well as proceeds from the 2014 Champions Club Spring Classic, an annual golf tournament held at the Virginia Country Club (VCC), led by VCC’s Jamie Mulligan and Whit Latimer, Memorial Medical Center Foundation board member.
Mrs. Hoag has been one of the leading philanthropists supporting Miller Children’s for nearly a decade. In 2009, an endowment was established in her name to support the cleft lip and palate program at the Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s. In 2010, Mrs. Hoag made a transformational gift to establish the Helen E. Hoag Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery, a position that was filled by Shaun Setty, M.D. In addition, Mrs. Hoag has provided funds for capital equipment and research projects for a variety of programs at Miller Children’s.
“I want to express my appreciation to the Larry & Helen Hoag Foundation,” says Divya Joshi, M.D., MMM, chief medical officer, Miller Children’s. “Their generosity is why this center became a reality. This event marks the culmination of an idea that began more than two years ago – to create an innovative new center that gives our patients with urological and renal conditions the best possible care. Today, we have achieved that goal.”
The Center features multiple large exam rooms, conference and consultation rooms for patients to speak privately with their physician and a procedure room. The procedure room has a dedicated C-arm – a minimally invasive imaging device, which allows for more cost-effective outpatient care and pain-reduced procedures.
The new Center puts Miller Children’s at the forefront of urological and renal care because of its ability to provide patients with unique treatment options and procedures ranging from identifying signs of fetal urologic anomalies in utero, to conducting reconstructive surgery using robotic techniques.
Marisol Barajas, District Director, Office of Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell (right), presents Anne Tanner, executive director, Outpatient Specialty Centers, Miller Children’s (left), with a certificate marking the grand opening of the new Center.