Camarillo Hospital Gets Biggest Donation Ever

An unnamed philanthropist and ex-patient donated $5 million to St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, which officials say is the largest donation in the hospital’s history, according to the Ventura County Star. Debi Klein, vice president of philanthropy for St. John’s Healthcare Foundation, told the Star that the former patient provided the money in honor of her late father, who was a surgeon himself. The anonymous donation was given to help fund a new surgical center that includes three operating rooms as well as a waiting area. The center is part of a 70,000-square-foot addition to the southwest side of the hospital, which will cost about $80 million in total. Construction for the three-story add-on, which began in September, includes 50 private patient rooms, a new lobby, a redesigned café and a cardiac catheterization lab. Completion is scheduled for 2018. St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital is operated by nonprofit corporation Dignity Health, which also oversees Glendale Memorial Hospital and Northridge Hospital Medical Center.