April 29, 2024
Scheduled to open in 2026, Hoag’s reimagined Sun Family Campus in Irvine will be built around the Du Family Hospital Pavilion in honor of a generous $25 million gift from longtime philanthropists Ben and Carmela Du.
The Du Family Hospital Pavilion will serve as a focal point welcoming patients and visitors to Hoag’s $1 billion expansion project in Irvine. When complete, the expanded campus will include substantial renovations to existing facilities alongside new state-of-the-art specialty care centers for surgical innovation, cancer, and digestive and women’s health, in addition to a dedicated urgent care for cancer patients. The expansion will bring six new buildings, 155 inpatient beds, eight operating rooms, two additional procedure rooms, and 120,000 square feet of ambulatory facilities to the Sun Family Campus.
“The Du family’s extraordinary vision and dedication has improved and will continue to improve access to the highest-quality care throughout Orange County for generations to come,” said Robert T. Braithwaite, president and CEO of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. “The Du Family Hospital Pavilion will stand as a beacon to a campus where visitors’ health care needs are met by innovative, comprehensive, and holistic programs. It is appropriate that this sweeping transformation in health care will bear the names of visionary benefactors like Ben and Carmela,” Mr. Braithwaite said.
While residents of Newport Beach, Ben and Carmela have long felt that supporting Hoag’s expansion in Irvine was a logical choice. “The campus is central to more communities. We feel it’s important that Hoag is expanding its reach. We are honored to be involved and to support the Irvine area and other growing South County communities,” Ben said. Originally from the Philippines, Ben and Carmela Du immigrated to the U.S. in 1967, subsequently founding and later selling a successful international manufacturing company that has given them the privilege to give generously to others over the years.
As supporters of Hoag, Ben and Carmela have been at the forefront of transformative giving that has improved access to leading-edge medicine for countless people in Orange County and beyond. Their first major gift to Hoag in 2015 established the Benjamin & Carmela Du Endowed Chair in Urologic Oncology, which continues to support breakthroughs in prostate cancer treatment at Hoag. In 2018, the couple’s $5 million gift, the largest gift to Hoag’s Irvine campus at the time, allowed Hoag to unveil the Benjamin & Carmela Du Emergency Pavilion, the groundbreaking emergency department that expanded much-needed emergency care to Irvine and the surrounding area’s residents.
“Ben and Carmela have been such loyal friends of Hoag. They have helped us transform emergency care in Irvine, which has increased Hoag’s ability to care for our community. We are so grateful for their generosity,” said Marcy Brown, senior vice president and chief operations officer at Hoag.
Ben and Carmela are also members of Hoag Innovators, a group of community leaders dedicated to catalyzing innovation at Hoag through the power of collective giving. Among several other projects, Hoag Innovators recently funded a Prostate Cancer Screening Clinic pilot in the spring of 2023. This innovation brings personalized, preventive care to patients using a next-generation, noninvasive diagnostic tool to detect genetic markers of prostate cancer earlier and more accurately while reducing the need for biopsies.
“Giving back is an important part of our family legacy,” Carmela Du said. “We are inspired by Hoag’s work to redefine the future of health care, right here in Orange County. We fully support the vision of Hoag’s expanded care.”
The couple also gives of their time. Ben Du served on the Hoag Hospital Foundation Board of Directors for nine years and has served on the Foundation’s Finance and Investment Committees. Their daughter Lizette and two granddaughters share in the family’s excitement about what this legacy of giving will mean for patients and the community.
The Du family joins Diana and David Sun, the Pacific Life Foundation, and other visionary donors in Hoag’s philanthropic community fueling a greater, more empowered health care future for all through the Hoag Hospital Foundation’s ambitious $300 million Boldly Hoag campaign. With more than $180 million raised toward the project, the Boldly Hoag campaign is about more than new buildings; it’s about redefining what comes next for Hoag patients, staff, the community, and health care more broadly. Three bold, interconnected initiatives are supported by the campaign: elevating the patient experience; recruiting and retaining the nation’s brightest health care professionals; and defining and building the future of health care.
Inspired by the most advanced thinking in architecture, hospitality, and customer service, the Du Family Hospital Pavilion will set the tone for the entire Sun Family Campus with a new hospital entrance that considers every element of the patient experience, from arrival, to wayfinding, to the way spaces look and how they make people feel. New spaces have been designed to promote a balance of high-tech and high-touch moments, juxtaposing revolutionary technology with natural materials like wood and stone to create a soothing and healing environment that echoes Hoag’s dedication to cutting-edge medicine and compassionate care.
With a sunlit concourse that seamlessly connects the hospital to other campus facilities, patients and visitors will have easy access to specialty services as well as outdoor spaces, such as beautifully landscaped gardens and decks, for moments of respite. A new covered valet area will make dropping off and picking up loved ones more convenient, and a reimagined, indoor-outdoor hospital dining experience will offer healthy food options to meet a variety of dietary needs. Each of these features and more will not only serve as a means of delivering the highest quality care to patients but also attracting and retaining top talent from around the country.
“For years to come, people will pass through the Du Family Hospital Pavilion on their way to the best specialists and experts in the world,” Robert Braithwaite said. “This pavilion, like so much of the Du family’s giving, will stand as a testament to their spirit, their heart, and their vision.”
Ben, Carmela, and the entire Du family hope their gift will inspire others to join them in supporting Hoag and expanding access to the most advanced, comprehensive care to residents across Orange County. To learn more, visit boldlyhoag.org.
