Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas (Calif.) received a $25 million donation to help fund a new inpatient hospital tower and pulmonary institute.
The donation, announced Oct. 8, was from philanthropists Warner and Debbie Lusardi of Rancho Santa Fe.
The hospital will use the gift to help fund construction of a three-story, 224,000-square-foot acute care tower with 64 inpatient beds. Construction is slated to begin in 2022, and the facility is expected to open in 2025.
The tower will also house a pulmonary institute, which will offer a range of services for respiratory conditions. It will be named Lusardi Tower, and the institute will be named Lusardi Pulmonary Institute, in honor of the donation.
"We are immensely grateful to Warner and Debbie Lusardi, whose historic gift will have a truly transformative impact on the region's health care for generations to come," said Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of San Diego-based Scripps Health. "This investment will provide North County residents with expanded access to the high quality, compassionate health care they have come to expect from Scripps Encinitas."