Clinical Research

Hoag has established an outstanding reputation for providing quality healthcare. This is in large part due to its commitment to existing guidelines and bringing innovative technologies and advanced treatment options, including groundbreaking clinical research. Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute supports this commitment by participating in multiple clinical trials, which are listed in the appendix.

Learn more about current Neurosciences Clinical Trials.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy is the platform for Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute’s continuing growth and innovation. It allows us to dream big and do things that most other hospitals cannot. Many of the programs and services highlighted in this report were launched or are sustained by our community’s generosity. With equal gratitude to every donor who has supported the Institute, we are pleased to recognize examples of gifts that made a particularly significant impact in 2018.

Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute

In 2017, Richard Pickup and his family committed a transformative $15 million gift, among the largest in Hoag’s history, renaming the Institute to Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute. The funds have propelled the growth of the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program (OCVBAP) through the acquisition of an informatics platform that facilitates testing for early detection of memory and cognitive impairment and fosters research as well as appropriate intervention for patients found to be impaired.

The gift carries the added benefit of increased visibility for the Institute, which has positioned leadership to recruit some of the best and brightest new physicians in needed specialties.

Endowed Chairs

An endowed chair is among the most strategic gifts to a medical center and a critical tool that honors and recognizes superior distinction among our physicians, providing invaluable financial support for the chair holder for use in dis cretionary research and program development.

The Ron & Sandi Simon Executive Medical Director Endowed Chair, Neurosciences facilitated the accelerated growth and national recognition of Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.

Additionally, the Judy & Richard Voltmer Endowed Chair in Memory and Cognitive Disorders helped with the expansion of services and integration of cognitive health care in primary care settings through the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program.

Nancy and Bill Thompson Support Epilepsy Care for the Underserved

Thanks to a generous $1 million gift from longtime Hoag donors, Nancy and Bill Thompson, the Hoag Epilepsy Program is now providing specialized epilepsy care for the uninsured, underinsured and unfunded through a partnership with the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange. The gift supports expert care at the Clinic provided by David Millett, M.D., Ph.D., director of Hoag’s Epilepsy Program and the program’s nurse navigator.

John Curci Commits Seed Funding for New Neuropathy Services

John Curci’s visionary gift is laying the groundwork for the development of a Chronic Pain and Neuropathy Center at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute. Plans are currently underway for this critical resource that will provide patients who have various types of neuropathy with education and the resources to manage their condition while optimizing quality of life.

Marilyn and Bill Robbins Provide Enduring Support for the Orange County Vital Brain Aging Program

OCVBAP is entirely supported by philanthropy. Inspired by the impact of the program thus far, Bill and Marilyn Robbins established an endowment that will provide a source of sustainable funding for OCVBAP in perpetuity.

Fudge Family Acute Rehabilitation Center

Thanks to forward-thinking Hoag donor, Gary Fudge, the Fudge Family Acute Rehabilitation Center opened in June 2018, creating a streamlined continuum of care for patients. Prior to the Center’s opening, patients had to leave Hoag for residential post-acute rehab. Now, a patient’s acute care physician can continue to monitor and check on progress during rehabilitation at Hoag, while the patient works with a comprehensive team of rehabilitative specialists in a homelike environment with advanced technology.