Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has given the public its first glimpse at Guerin Children’s, its new childcare facility made possible by the single largest donation in the nonprofit’s 119-year history. The 26-bed facility, designed to provide care from infancy to adulthood, will open to patients in the late summer.
Complete with an interactive media room, art by local artists, an outdoor garden, and a lounge for families, Cedars-Sinai hopes Guerin’s Children will establish the center as “an international destination for children and their families and as a leader in pediatric care and research in the United States,” Cedars-Sinai President and CEO Thomas M. Priselac said in a statement.
The facility is designed to help parents and children during some of the most difficult times of their lives.
“Guerin Children’s will provide extra support for parents, including sleeping arrangements in the hospital rooms so that the adults can be with their children as much as possible,” Cedars-Sinai’s Manager of Broadcast News told the Courier.
Priselac acknowledged the historic contribution by the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation and its president, Vera Guerin, that made the facility possible.
“The support and vision of Vera Guerin and the Shapell Guerin Family Foundation will have a lasting impact on the health of generations of children and families,” he said.
Guerin, described in a press release as a “longtime Cedars-Sinai supporter,” served as the most recent past chair of the Cedars-Sinai Health System Board of Directors.
“Our family is passionate about Cedars-Sinai and about providing a continuum of care for patients from childhood to adulthood,” Guerin previously said in a statement. “We are honored and humbled to play our part in supporting and building this incredible institution.”
Guerin and her husband have a history of sizable donations to the hospital, including contributions sponsoring the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program, the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Pulmonary Disease Research Fund, the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Distinguished Chair in Pulmonary Medicine and the Vera and Paul Guerin Family Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery. The Shapell Guerin Family Foundation is a private foundation in Beverly Hills founded in 1961.
Dr. Ophir Klein, and expert in developmental and stem cell biology, will head Guerin Children’s as Executive Director. Klein comes to Cedars-Sinai from the University of California, San Francisco and is recognized for his innovations in pediatrics and genetics. His research focuses on understanding how organs form in embryos and how they regenerate in adults.
