Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, has gotten a record gift estimated at $100 million.
The donation is from the estate of Stanley Lucas, a friend and patient of the health center. The gift will "significantly advance" prostate cancer research and care, according to an April press release.
Lucas died in January 2025 of prostate cancer. He founded Lucas Automotive Engineering in 1957 and was widely known for his car collection.
Lucas named the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation a primary beneficiary of his estate, "entrusting the organization with an extraordinary investment that will advance research, improve early detection and transform how prostate cancer is treated — saving lives for generations to come," the release said.
The health center is part of Providence St. Joseph Health.
In gratitude for care he received at the health center, his trustees established the Stanley H. Lucas endowed chair in urology to honor Dr. Leslie M. Kaplan and the rest of the team who cared for Lucas. Saint John’s will advance a series of initiatives focused on urologic oncology.
"This gift marks a defining moment for Saint John’s," said Michael Ricks, CEO of the Providence LAcoastal service area and Providence Saint John’s Health Center. "Stan Lucas believed deeply in this hospital, in the physicians and caregivers who cared for him and in what is possible when excellence and compassion come together."
"Stan’s gift is the purest form of philanthropy," said Sheryl A. Bourgeois, president and CEO of Saint John’s Health Center Foundation. "While he will never personally benefit from this investment, his legacy will fuel advancements that transform care, push us beyond today’s limits and change outcomes for patients far into the future."