$100M Gift Will Launch World-Class Children's Health Vision

Newswise — Los Angeles (December 16, 2021). --Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's will provide a seamless continuum of primary and specialty care for hospitalized patients and outpatients as they grow from newborns to adolescents to adults. It will combine advanced clinical care, leading-edge pediatric research and forward-looking physician education and training to support Cedars-Sinai and its growing network of healthcare partners across the region.

In addition to current intensive care pediatric beds, an inpatient space with 26 beds is now under renovation on the Cedars-Sinai campus and is scheduled to open in spring 2022. The family-friendly setting will feature a game and movie room with interactive screens to play games and activities, a peaceful outdoor garden, children's art by local artists, a family lounge for adults and furniture that converts into beds for parents who wish to stay with their children at night.

Guerin Children's has been made possible by the generosity of the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation and its president, Vera Guerin, a longtime Cedars-Sinai supporter who currently serves as board chair of Cedars-Sinai Health System. The $100 million contribution is the largest lifetime gift in Cedars-Sinai's 119-year history.

"We intend to establish Guerin Children’s as an international destination for children and their families and as a leader in pediatric care and research in the United States," said Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai. "The support and vision of Vera Guerin and the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation will have a lasting impact on the health of generations of children and families."

Guerin Children's will build on Cedars-Sinai's already robust care in pediatrics and labor and delivery. The medical center delivers more babies than any other hospital in Los Angeles County—more than 6,200 a year. The new enterprise will offer patients highly specialized medical care, including a full complement of pediatric specialties, maternal-fetal medicine and pediatric surgery and transplants. It will leverage the expertise of Cedars-Sinai's nationally recognized programs in cardiology, cancer, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, obstetrics, pulmonology, rheumatology, metabolic disorders and the neurosciences.

Guerin said she hopes that Guerin Children's will have an enduring impact on children's health in the Los Angeles community while serving patients elsewhere through its comprehensive array of services. Guerin and her family have been longtime champions of Cedars-Sinai. She and her husband have sponsored the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program, the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Pulmonary Disease Research Fund, the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Distinguished Chair in Pulmonary Medicine, and the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery.

"Our family is passionate about Cedars-Sinai and about providing a continuum of care for patients from childhood to adulthood," Guerin said. "We are honored and humbled to play our part in supporting and building this incredible institution."

Read More on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Matters of the Heart: Evan Zahn, MD