Hoag Hospital Donations Benefit Nursing Program at Cal State Long Beach

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach recently donated $300,000 to the Nursing Department at Cal State Long Beach and pledged an additional $600,000 over the next two years for a trio of programs that includes resources to admit more nursing students. The new pledge brings Hoag's support of the Nursing Department to $1.8 million by 2005.

"Cal State Long Beach has had a wonderful partnership with Hoag Hospital for many years," said CSULB President Robert C. Maxson. "This relationship has flourished, especially during the last 10 years, thanks to the leadership of Rick Martin, Hoag's vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer.

"With its generous funding," he added, "we believe that Hoag recognizes our Nursing Department's national reputation for excellence and the fact that it is not only one of the largest but also one the best programs in the state."

Hoag Hospital is funding one full-time faculty position for CSULB's Nursing Department for three years, thus enabling the department to admit 12 more students to its basic BSN program, and it will continue the support until those students graduate.

"Hoag is dedicated to providing opportunities to potential nursing students through its partnership with CSULB," Martin explained. "By reducing the wait time and offering more classes, we have a better chance of decreasing the current nursing shortage."

A member of the department's advisory board since 1993, Martin was instrumental in initiating CSULB's first distance education at Hoag Hospital in 1995 with an MSN degree program for Family Nurse Practitioners. Since 1998, the department has had three additional onsite programs—two for the BSN and another MSN degree in acute care.

"I want to express deep gratitude to Hoag Hospital's board of directors and the hospital administration, especially Rick Martin, for their support" said Loucine Huckabay, department chair. "Rick Martin chaired a committee responsible for instituting major curricular changes in our nursing program. This helped our Nursing Department to become more relevant and on the cutting edge in our profession."

Hoag, a 409-bed not-for-profit acute care hospital, is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and is home to Centers of Excellence in cancer, heart and vascular, orthopedics and women's health services.

It was Southern California's highest-rated, full-service acute care hospital in the 2001 Patients' Evaluation of Performance in California, the state's largest hospital survey ever released to the public, and is one of only three large community hospitals in the Pacific region to receive the Health Care Information Association's 100 Top Hospitals: Regional Benchmark for Success Award, recognizing patient care and satisfaction.