From inception to a healthcare icon
PRx, as it was then known, was engaged by the County of Santa Clara to support its health services mission to residents of the County through Valley Medical Center (VMC), the area’s public hospital. The hospital, like most public health care institutions in the 1980s, was seriously underfunded, and PRx’s founder and CEO saw the need for a non-profit foundation that could provide not only funds for medical service expansion, but budget for effective marketing of VMC’s excellent medical care. This was one of the first nonprofits in the US that served a public hospital.
The VMC Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that raises private donations from the community to benefit the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (VMC) and the entire Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System. VMC is the largest and busiest hospital in Silicon Valley, and the only one that provides care to all, regardless of ability to pay. The Foundation’s activities help fund the purchase of equipment and funding of programs that improve quality of care and access to treatment.