Investing in the Community is at the Heart of $1M Haynes Gift to Marin General Hospital
GREENBRAE, CA — A vow made by newlyweds in 1945, to give back to the community in which they lived, has been reaffirmed today, with a $1 million donation to support three critical programs at Marin General Hospital.
Reta Haynes, longtime supporter of the hospital with her late husband, H. J. “Bill” Haynes, has directed $500,000 to benefit the hospital’s Marin Cancer Institute, $450,000 to enhance programs and services of the Haynes Cardiovascular Institute, and $50,000 to support the Marin Spine and Brain Institute. The Haynes Cardiovascular Institute was named in honor of Reta and Bill Haynes in 2009 for previous contributions made by the couple.
“This latest gift from Reta Haynes is a wonderful vote of confidence in the hospital’s new direction,” says Lee Domanico, CEO, Marin General Hospital. “We are touched by the Haynes family’s fervent devotion to the hospital and recognition of the need for strong community leadership in ensuring that patients in our community have access to state-of-the-art medical care.”
The new comprehensive donation carries on nearly 50 years of support of Marin General Hospital by Reta Haynes and the Haynes family, both financially and as recipients of the hospital’s patient services.
“We made a decision when we moved to the area, almost 50 years ago, that Marin would be our family’s center for medical care,” says Mrs. Haynes. “We have stood by that decision, and all of our physician care has been provided by local doctors. We always chose Marin General Hospital when any surgical procedure or hospital care was required. We have always believed in the commitment by the administrators and physicians to uphold the hospital’s core values to serve our community with excellence and compassion. This recent contribution is consistent with our family’s pledge to support medical research and higher education, through personal giving and through our Foundation.”
Mrs. Haynes’ husband, Bill, who died in 2009, was former CEO of the company that became Chevron. He also was a consultant to the Bechtel Corporation until the time of his death. Mr. Haynes was one of the first patients to have quadruple bypass surgery in the early 1990s at the hospital. He was also a surgical patient at Marin General for bladder cancer. Mrs. Haynes was a spinal surgery patient there in 2001. She also cites the high level of nursing care and kindness she received, and that she also witnessed during her husband’s hospital stays.
“As longtime contributors to the hospital and its services, the Haynes family has shown again and again what it means to be a caring partner with our community,” says Jon Friedenberg, president, Marin General Hospital Foundation. “This gift will have a significant impact on patient care for years to come.”
The new funds are earmarked for purchase of a state-of-the-art PET/CT scanner for the Marin Cancer Institute, which specializes in treating breast, prostate, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal cancers. The Institute recently received a three-year Accreditation with Commendation from The Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). It is the only North Bay hospital to have received this designation. It also has been awarded eight out of eight possible commendations by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.
The funds designated for the Haynes Cardiovascular Institute will purchase four critical new pieces of equipment. These include a left ventricular assist device to provide a treatment option for critically ill patients experiencing advanced cardiac failure, or shock in recovering from a heart attack or other injury; and a 3-D echo machine and 3-D software to enable detailed anatomical assessment of cardiac pathology. Also to be added will be a portable ultrasound unit, and an intra-vascular ultrasound (IVUS) upgrade, a catheter-based system that allows physicians to acquire images of diseased vessels from inside the artery.
The Haynes Cardiovascular Institute is recognized as one of the Bay Area’s leading facilities to offer an extensive range of sophisticated cardiac services focused on education and disease prevention, state-of-the-art diagnostic services, and excellence in the treatment of heart disease.
The Haynes gift to the Marin General Hospital Brain and Spine Institute will serve as a key sponsorship of the 2011 Golf Tournament fundraising program to significantly broaden services. In December 2010, the hospital announced a new joint venture that provides a single point of access in Marin for world-class, comprehensive multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary treatment and management of spine and brain disorders and disease.
The Marin General Hospital Spine & Brain Institute added elective neurosurgery, including brain surgery, to its highly regarded spine program and trauma/ED neurosurgery services through a unique partnership between Mt. Tam Spine Center, Marin General Hospital and UCSF Neurosurgery. The program is the only one in Marin with focused spine and brain surgery expertise.
