Gordon and Betty Moore gift $50 million for Packard children’s heart research

Bay Area philanthropists Gordon and Betty Moore have given Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford $50 million toward patient care and advance research for children with heart disease, the hospital announced on Tuesday, March 28.

The Moores’ private donation is the largest gift from an individual to Packard Children’s Hospital since its founding gift from David and Lucile Packard, the hospital said in a statement.

The hospital will rename its Children’s Heart Center the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center in honor of the gift. The donation provides funding for clinical and research facilities, an endowment for the center’s highest strategic priorities and endowed positions for faculty to lead specialized care and research, the hospital said.

Gordon Moore is co-founder of Intel Corporation. He and his wife, Betty, are founders of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which funds research in the sciences, environment, health and education. Long-time supporters of Packard Children’s Hospital, the couple previously made gifts to the hospital’s 521,000-square-foot expansion, which is now nearing completion this year.

The Moores decided to make the $50 million gift after their grandchild was helped by care from the heart center.

“Our grandchild had lifesaving surgery at the hospital, and we would like to help make sure the capability is there for others,” Gordon Moore said.

The heart center has gained recognition as a national and international destination for highly specialized surgical procedures, including many that are among the most challenging and complex cardiovascular cases. The center receives more than 25,000 patient visits annually and performs 80 to 90 percent of all cardiac surgical care for children in northern and central California, according to the hospital.

Pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Frank Hanley is executive director of the Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center. The Moores’ gift comes at a critical point in pediatric cardiovascular care in that it will help physicians advance beyond surgical repair that is not a cure for disease to discovering treatments that could ultimately lead to true cures, he said.

Currently many patients require multiple surgeries and repairs throughout their lifetimes that can interfere with their quality of life, according to the hospital.

“We imagine a day when a child born with a poorly working aortic valve, rather than undergoing multiple open-heart operations throughout his lifetime, instead receives a replacement valve engineered from his own stem cells,” he said.

The Moores’ gift will allow the heart center to build a robust research program aimed at improving the treatment and prevention of congenital and acquired heart conditions, including adult congenital heart disease. The Center will also expand its clinical facilities, including a newly designed outpatient center in the coming years, the hospital said.