History

After 35 years as the Valley Medical Center Foundation, the organization changed its name to Valley Health Foundation in May 2023. The new name signifies a unified foundation serving all three of Santa Clara County’s public hospitals and the Foundation’s leading role as a change-agent for health in Silicon Valley.

Michael first joined the Foundation in 2007 and served as Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive Director until his appointment as President & Executive Director in January, 2022

The Foundation launches a massive effort to secure supplies and resources to support all Santa Clara County hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 5 million items were donated, and $20 million in contributions were made to purchase essential supplies to protect healthcare workers and speed vaccine delivery to all Santa Clara County residents.

The Foundation became the first hospital foundation in the United States and the only organization in California to receive accreditation from the Standards for Excellence Institution for nonprofit ethics, the nation's most prestigious nonprofit accreditation program.

The John A. and Susan Sobrato Pavilion opens on the campus of SCVMC. Thanks to a $5 million gift from the Sobrato family, the Foundation outfits the new main adult hospital building with needed technology and artwork. At the time, that was the largest private gift made to a public county hospital in California and was the largest gift ever made to the Foundation by an individual.

The Foundation launches a capital campaign to transform an existing general hospital building into San Jose’s first Women and Children’s Center. With support from First 5 Santa Clara County, SAP, Sharks Foundation, The Health Trust, and others, nearly $10 million was raised to support major renovations and improvements in the building.

In partnership with San Jose Sharks, the Foundation worked to transform Valley Health Center Tully into a Sharks-inspired playland. Sharks’ legends Brett Burns, Patrick Marleau, and Danny Boyle joined us for the opening.

With support from Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Foundation funded the implementation of Medication Administration Checking, a technology that provides enhanced safeguards against medication administration errors. The system ensures that the right patient receives the right medication dose at the right time.

SCVMC faced an existential problem in 2008 - a State of California mandate to upgrade hospital facilities to meet stringent earthquake safety standards but with no money to pay to make the work happen.

Without it, the state could shut down huge portions of SCVMC, jeopardizing essential trauma and other services. In a first for the organization, the Foundation was asked to lead a campaign to secure $840 million from the taxpayers to pay for a new hospital wing at SCVMC and a new Downtown San Jose health center.

Measure A passed with 78% of the vote on the November 2008 ballot.

As SCVMC made plans for a new outpatient specialty center in the early 2000s, one thing was clear - expanding cancer services would be a priority.

Unfortunately, funds weren't available to purchase a critical piece of needed equipment, a new Linear Accelerator. The existing unit was over 10 years old, and technology had evolved.

The Foundation jumped into action. Thanks to a $1 million gift from John A. Sobrato, a new Linear Accelerator was installed inside the SCVMC Sobrato Cancer Center.

Founded by former SCVMC nurse Sue Runsvold, Turning Wheels for Kids (TWFK) started as an all-volunteer program of the Foundation. Volunteers procured, built, and distributed just a few hundred bikes to needy families in their first year.

Now, almost 20 years later, TWFK is a Silicon Valley institution, providing over 3,500 bikes to kids each year, free of charge.

Thanks to a lead gift from Joe Parisi, founder of Therma, Inc and former Foundation Board of Directors member, the Parisi House on the Hill opened in 2004, triple the size of the previous facility.

The only residential substance abuse treatment center in Santa Clara County for women with young children, the new House on the Hill was made possible by a $2 million fundraising campaign led by the Foundation.

In the year before Chris Wilder was named Executive Director, the Foundation raised just over $100,000. Chris would go on to raise $100 million in support of the public healthcare system in Santa Clara County.

VMC Foundation celebrates the opening of Building M, a new hospital building that largely replaced the 1960s-era main building.

Independence Plaza opens at the Rehabilitation Center at SCVMC. The space was designed for therapy, events, and play, the VMC Foundations’ first successful capital project.

When the new rehabilitation center opened in the Sobrato Pavilion in 2017, a new Independence Plaza was dedicated, also built with support from VMC Foundation donors.

The Valley Medical Center Foundation is founded by a group of community leaders passionate about the valley’s oldest and most essential hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

The VMC Foundation would become one of California's first private foundations supporting a public hospital. Gerald Patrick is named President, and Michael E. Fox is named Chairperson. Mr. Fox also made the first-ever donation to the organization in the amount of $10,000.