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Providence Holy Cross Medical Center Receives Largest Financial Gift

MISSION HILLS – Providence Holy Cross Medical Center received its largest ever financial gift –  more than $7 million trust left by the late Julian and Gladys Saunders.

“This is a tremendously generous donation from a family that contributed so much to our community. It will be put to very good use here at Providence Holy Cross to improve care for our patients, fulfilling the Saunders’ wishes,” said Bernard Klein, M.D, the Mission Hills hospital’s chief executive.


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The gift was announced this week and will be received over time. As a tribute to the Saunders family, the lobby of the newly expanded hospital was named for the couple.

Julian Saunders, born to British parents in Calcutta, India, and Gladys Saunders, who emigrated from Canada, settled in the northeast Valley as the post-World War II era brought families to the region’s new housing tracts.

Julian established Saunders Ford and two self-storage warehouses and the family flourished. A pilot, Saunders joined the Flying Samaritans and flew medical professionals to Mexico to help those with no access to health care. Gladys Saunders, too, was known for her charitable deeds, closer to home.

“The community saw the need for a hospital in the northeast Valley and built Holy Cross, and with the continued support of friends like the Saunders family, we are able to provide top quality health care and continue our Mission of compassionate care to the poor and vulnerable,”said Ron Bitzer, director of planned giving for the Providence Health & Services Foundation serving the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas.  “Appropriate use of sophisticated estate planning can help to make sure that local wealth remains in the local communities.”

Family friend Msgr. Robert J. Gallagher of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood blessed the new lobby.

As a Catholic not-for-profit organization, Providence Health & Services is grateful to donors whose financial gifts help enhance patient care through the purchases of equipment and the funding of educational programs.

Proceeds from hospital operations are returned to the community in the form of benefit programs for the poor, the elderly, children from low-income families, immigrants and other vulnerable populations.

San Fernando Valley households will transfer an estimated $32.7 billion to heirs, qualified charities and the federal government in the decade ending in 2019, according to the California Community Foundation’s December 2011 report.


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Providence Holy Cross Medical Center Receives Largest Financial Gift

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