Email  Print

Vadászes offer SVH $2M matching grant

Judy and Les Vadász, major philanthropists in terms of the time, money and leadership they’ve invested in countless Valley causes, have issued a challenge, of sorts, to the rest of the community. With a newly-announced, $2 million matching grant to support Sonoma Valley Hospital, they are hoping Valley residents will follow suit.

“We hope that the community will feel inspired to invest as we have,” Judy Vadász said.

The money from the Vadász Family Foundation will go towards the hospital’s ongoing $11 million capital campaign to complete the new wing, which is currently under construction. Once completed next fall, the building will house a new, expanded emergency room along with an upgraded surgical center. Before the Vadászes gift, the hospital had raised about $5.6 million, including a $3 million donation from Marcia and Gary Nelson. Now, assuming the hospital can raise the matching $2 million in contributions by the September deadline, the facility will be just $1.4 million shy of meeting its goal.

“I am confident the community will step up,” said Harmony Plenty, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation, who added that support from established philanthropists such as the Vadászes inspires confidence in other donors. “We’ve already seen (the matching grant) help us greatly.”

During the Jan. 10 meeting of the Sonoma Valley Health Care District board, Kevin Coss, the owner’s representative on the construction project, told the board the project has remained on schedule.

“We worked though a very wet December to meet that deadline,” Coss said, explaining that the project hadn’t seen the winter rain setbacks they had expected.

The Vadászes credited their confidence in the current leadership at the hospital as a contributing factor in their decision to offer the generous gift.

“At the end of the day, you either trust the people who are doing it, or not. We feel very good about this,” Les Vadász said, adding it was important to him to offer a matching grant. “This has to be an investment of the community. We’re more than happy to help, we just want fellow travelers on this journey.”

He noted that this type of giving is more important than ever these days. “On a more philosophical level, we’re seeing the times change.

Communities need to be more invested,” he said. “These actions will make a difference between success and failures.”

Judy and Les Vadász have long found value in giving back to their community, so much so that, in 2012, the Sonoma City Council named them jointly Alcalde and Alcaldessa – the city’s most useful citizens. While they generally avoid the limelight for their contributions, they do believe in living by example.

“The only thing we know is that if the community invests, we all have a better chance of succeeding,” Les Vadász said.

To find out more about the hospital’s capital campaign or to contribute, contact Harmony Plenty at 935-5070 or hplenty@svh.com.