A massive rebuilding project expected to take at least a dozen years and cost more than $1 billion on the Stanford University campus received a significant shot in the arm from a private contributor.
John Scully and his wife, Regina, announced a $20 million contribution to the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics.
The gift from the San Francisco couple will help build a new facility to house research programs for stem cell and regenerative medicine research at the medical school, as well as build space at the new Stanford Hospital.
"We are attracted to the big problems with the best potential for significant improvement in the human experience," said John Scully, managing director of SPO Partners & Co., an investment management firm based in Mill Valley, Calif. "Stem cell understanding should have a dramatic impact in what many feel will be the century of biological sciences."
The gift will be devoted in part to construction of a medical school research building known as Stanford Institutes of Medicine 1, which will primarily house laboratories in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. The school hopes to break ground on the project later this year.
Stanford is early in the process of its Medical Center Renewal Project, which would involve construction of a new adult hospital to replace Stanford Medical Center; expansion of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital on the Stanford campus; and replacement of the Stanford School of Medicine, said Shelley Hebert, executive director of public affairs for Stanford Hospital & Clinics.
The impact of the project is now being reviewed by the city of Palo Alto, Calif., after Stanford staff introduced the design development process to the city's architectural review board in late December. Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard each have selected architects for the projects.
The replacement projects are being planned to enable the facilities to achieve seismic safety standards enacted by the state of California. In addition, the facilities say the projects will help facilities achieve needed increases in capacity and improve the quality of care.
Stanford hopes to gain city approval for the project this year, including environmental impact approval, and begin construction in 2010. The project will be completed in stages, with all phases of construction expected to be completed by 2025, Hebert said.