Emanate Health Awarded a Major Grant to Fund New Emergency Department in West Covina
The Ahmanson Foundation grant will help provide new medical equipment at Queen of the Valley Hospital to help address the area’s growing need for emergency care.
COVINA, Calif. — Emanate Health Foundation today announced that it has received a major grant commitment from The Ahmanson Foundation toward the new state-of-the-art emergency department and intensive care unit (ICU) at Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina. Currently under construction, the new facility will triple its original capacity when completed.
"As we mark its 60th anniversary in 2022, Emanate Health Queen of the Valley Hospital is building the emergency department/ICU of tomorrow that will serve the critical care needs of the San Gabriel Valley for the next 60 years or more,” said President & CEO Roger Sharma.
“This new facility responds to a growing need for emergency care services in our community and is an important part of our master plan to establish a regional health care hub in this area to serve residents for generations to come,” Sharma said.
Grant funds from The Ahmanson Foundation will help fund the purchase and installation of new medical equipment, including onsite computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and X-ray devices. This equipment will be physically located in the new facility, saving precious time now needed to take patients to other parts of the hospital for these tests.
“With ever-tightening margins in health care because of increasing costs and decreasing revenues, private philanthropy remains a critical tool to supplement capital expenditures, healthcare initiatives and general operations,” said Greg Lehr, Emanate Health Foundation Chief Philanthropy Officer. “We are grateful for The Ahmanson Foundation partnering with Emanate Health to build one of the most important medical facilities under construction in this region.”
The two-story, 60,000-square-foot building will include a new 60-bed emergency department on the first floor and 24-bed ICU on the second floor. Originally built in 1962 to serve 35,000 patients a year, the facility today treats more than 80,000 patients annually. Once the new emergency department is completed in spring 2024, it will be able to accommodate more than 120,000 visits a year, better serving the community and addressing a critical need.
“West Covina is my community. The people who live here are really hard-working and they deserve the best emergency care available,” said Sergio Hernandez, MD, Medical Director, Emergency Services, for Queen of the Valley Hospital. “Building a ground-up, modern emergency department will help bring quality health care to this region, which deserves the best. It will serve as a beacon of light that glows in West Covina and throughout this region.”
The Ahmanson Foundation is a prominent grant funder serving nonprofits in Los Angeles County for more than 70 years. For Emanate Health, the gift is noteworthy because it further solidifies the partnership with The Ahmanson Foundation in enhancing the health and wellness of its service area.
Emanate Health, which is the largest nonprofit health care system in the San Gabriel Valley, serves one million people in the region with three hospitals, a multi-specialty outpatient clinic, 16 other ambulatory clinics, an in-patient hospice and home care that offer comprehensive health care services with 3,700 employees, 1,000 physicians and 700 volunteers.