Holiday Cheer...it officially starts now!

Our 2009 Holiday Wish List is only a few weeks old and we already have one project fully funded! Last Friday we got a call from the Hammond Family Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation saying that they wanted to cover the remaining costs for the Patient Lift described in this video.


Now, it wasn’t magic that the Hammond Family Fund called us out of the blue. They saw a need and were generous enough to make our wish come true, and for that we thank them. What IS magic is what that gift will do for the staff and patients at Valley Medical Center .

We need to make that sort of magic happen for the three remaining projects. Check them out and see what you can do!

How about some EXTREMELY local health care reform?

Alert readers of this blog remember that Measure A, passed a year ago by the oh-so smart and good-looking electorate of Santa Clara County, provided not just $790M to rebuild VMC, but $50M for health services in downtown San Jose.

So you want progress? Here's progress - and a huge congrats to San Jose residents and thanks to the team that negotiated this deal...from today's Mercury News:

Surprise deal for downtown San Jose hospital site
By Joe Rodriguez

Five years after downtown San Jose lost its hospital, Santa Clara County on Tuesday announced a surprising $28.3 million deal for the site in a plan that promises to bring back more than doctors and nurses.

"It gives the downtown a shot in the arm," said Sam Liccardo, the neighborhood's city councilman. "I know the community will be thrilled to hear that medical care is coming back."

Read the full story here!

Presenting the VMC Foundation Holiday Wish List!

I know that you - and many families - often make tax-deductible charitable gifts at the end of the year, around the holidays. That's why I am pleased to announce the new VMC Foundation Holiday Wish List!

This new opportunity to support vital health & hospital services comes after a tough selection process. Front line professionals from Valley Medical Center, our clinics, and all parts of the Health & Hospital System know best what our patients need...so we asked the staff, and narrowed down submissions to four top-priority projects.

They all have a goal we can reach, but only if we do it together. Please visit www.vmcfoundation.org/wishlist and learn about the four areas to which we ask you to direct your year-end giving. We hope that, with your help, we can fund all four and help a great number of patients. Giving is easy, too: Right from the website, or by check...but our deadline is Dec. 31, and I invite you to be among the FIRST to get our campaign off on the right track.

So please consider making your tax-deductible gift today - visit our site and know that your gift will fund a very important unmet need at Silicon Valley's busiest medical center, where everyone is offered world-class care regardless of ability to pay.

THANK YOU, and may I be the first to offer you a hearty and heart-felt HAPPY HOLIDAYS!