Ten Ways San Diegans Help Sharp ENVISION the future

By The Health News Team | February 23, 2023
Health care technology

As the community and nation emerged from the depths of the pandemic, Sharp HealthCare was already investing in the future of health care in San Diego. It is a future that has been “years in the making,” says Bill Littlejohn, chief executive officer of the Foundations of Sharp HealthCare.

According to Littlejohn, Sharp’s dedication to improving the health of those they serve with a commitment to excellence in all that they do led to the launching of ENVISION: The Campaign for Sharp HealthCare. The campaign is the most comprehensive health care endeavor in San Diego’s history, he says.

“Across every community, Sharp is investing in facilities, technology, innovation, research and people to serve San Diego for generations to come,” Littlejohn says. “With the help and generosity from individual donors, partners and the community, ENVISION is raising $250 million in philanthropy to support $2 billion in investments over the next decade.”

The Foundations of Sharp HealthCare experienced a historic year in 2022, Littlejohn reports. It was filled with stories of inspired giving from donors who received the incredible care Sharp calls The Sharp Experience. “Gifts from more than 11,000 donors are propelling Sharp closer to our $250 million campaign goal and bold vision to transform health care across San Diego,” he says.

Through ENVISION, Sharp is committed to transforming health care in the following 10 ways:

  • The Sharp Prebys Innovation and Education Center will open in 2023. Named in recognition of a $5 million challenge grant from The Conrad Prebys Foundation, this extraordinary new facility will be a hub for all Sharp innovation, furthering the health system’s vision to be the best place to work, practice medicine and receive care.

  • Development of the John M. Sachs Family Center for Generational Health is in progress. This special facility, made possible through a transformational gift by longtime Sharp benefactor Carole Sachs, will support not only the Cushman Emergency and Trauma Center at Sharp Memorial Hospital, but also provide significant funding for the hospital to become one of the nation’s leading centers for geriatric patient care.

  • In May 2022, Sharp Memorial Hospital broke ground on its expansion of the Cushman Emergency and Trauma Center. The center’s expansion will provide 31 new treatment rooms, a new CT room, two specialized rooms for patients with contagious diseases and an expanded quick-care pod to meet the needs of the growing San Diego community.

  • Sharp HealthCare Foundation was awarded $900,000 from The Conrad Prebys Foundation in support of the Neonatal Research Institute (NRI) at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns. The NRI, under the direction of Dr. Anup Katheria, is one of the nation’s premiere institutes for improving the health of newborns through leading-edge treatments.

  • In August 2022, Sharp broke ground on the Sharp Grossmont Hospital Neurosciences Center. The state-of-the-art facility will be San Diego’s first comprehensive treatment center for patients needing advanced neurosurgical, neurological, and spine care. Thanks to a matching grant of $4 million from the Grossmont Healthcare District, all donations made to this project will be doubled, up to $4 million. The center will begin to serve all San Diegans in 2024.

  • In the summer of 2022, Sharp Coronado Hospital marked the first milestone in its Campaign for Emergency and Intensive Care. Donors gathered for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the Sherrie and Ron Auen Intensive Care Unit.

  • As Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital continues its efforts to address the mental health crisis in our community, philanthropist Darlene Marcos Shiley, president of the Shiley Foundation, has generously gifted $1 million in support of this effort. This transformational gift will support the modernization of Sharp Mesa Vista’s intensive care unit (ICU).

  • Thanks to a generous $1 million gift, Sharp HealthCare Foundation has established the Del Corazon First-Generation Fund at the Terrence and Barbara Caster Institute for Nursing Excellence. This extraordinary generosity will enable the Caster Institute to provide scholarships to first-generation nursing students (first in their family to attend college) to help complete their training and entry into practice. The first two scholarship recipients are from Nicaragua and Afghanistan. 

  • Construction will soon begin on Sharp’s fourth hospice home — the Moore MountainView Hospice Home in Poway, named for a $1 million gift from Lori Moore, RN, and the Cushman Foundation. 

  • A new parking structure under construction at the Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus in Serra Mesa will bear the name of Kevin H. Cook in recognition of his generous donation of $3.5 million to the campus’ modernization project and Sharp Rees-Stealy. Kevin’s gift will help transform the next generation of care and impact the lives of countless individuals.

“We are humbled by the extraordinary support for ENVISION from across the Sharp HealthCare family and the community,” says Littlejohn. “As was the case seven decades ago when Thomas E. Sharp donated $500,000 to establish a hospital in his son’s memory, San Diego is coming together to enable Sharp to continue our mission to improve the health of the community with a commitment to excellence in all that we do.”

Learn more about the incredible impact philanthropy has made at Sharp and in our community.


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