Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Foundation has received a $10 million donation, the largest gift in the foundation’s history, to complete construction of a family care center and a new women’s health center.
The hospital is part of Providence St. Joseph Health. The donation came from Henry and Marilyn Hansel, who have a family business, Hansel Auto Group, and are community supporters in Sonoma County, California.
The newly named Hansel Family Care Center, across from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, was built in 2020 and houses primary and specialty care services. With the donation, the foundation is launching a $20 million initiative that will fully develop the center.
"Memorial Hospital was built by philanthropy and has relied on visionary gifts like the Hansels' for every major milestone in our 75-year history,” Rebecca Kendall, chief philanthropy officer for Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Foundation, said in a press release. "We are profoundly grateful to the Hansel family for their gift, which will accelerate a new wave of support for Memorial as the most advanced and compassionate health care provider in our region."
Henry Hansel, whose great-grandfather was an auto dealer and one of the first people to drive an automobile into Yosemite Valley in 1906, spoke about his family’s motivation for the historic donation.
"Our family has deep roots in this community, and Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital has been there for us and our neighbors through good times and challenging times," said Henry Hansel in the release.
He added: "We're honored to give back to all who make Memorial such a caring, healing place."
The completed Hansel Family Care center will include an imaging center with the Marilyn Hess Hansel Breast Imaging Suite; a cardiology suite that will be home to the Providence Santa Rosa Memorial’s Evert and Norma Person Heart and Vascular Institute, which is "urgently needed" because of the region's aging population; and the women's health center that will have a breast cancer program.