From longtime supporters to devoted employees, Hoag’s legacy is shaped by those who’ve made it part of their family story.
Seventy-five years ago, a pivotal donation from the George Hoag Family Foundation facilitated the construction of Hoag Hospital. Since then, “The Hoag Family” has grown roots far deeper than George and his heirs. Generations of families in our community have received life-saving care, tended to their wellness, given birth, and so much more at Hoag. Tens of thousands of employees—health care providers, administrators, cafeteria workers, environmental service professionals, and countless others—have built careers and contributed to medical innovations at Hoag.
Since its opening, Hoag Hospital has had remarkable growth from a small community hospital to a regional provider of world-class care while retaining its personalized warmth and deeply rooted culture of patient-centered care. Melinda Hoag Smith, her husband Chuck, and the George Hoag Family Foundation have continued and expanded the legacy of philanthropy that Melinda’s father, George Hoag II, and grandmother, Grace Hoag, began.
Four generations of the Fainbarg/Chase family, ranging in age from under 10 to over 90, attended the March dedication of the Steven Fainbarg Atrium at the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living. The donation, in memory of Allan and Sandy Fainbarg’s son who passed away in 2024, supports the center’s Promotores outreach program, providing community health workers the ability to facilitate access to services for underserved nearby residents.
It is the most recent of the Fainbarg Family Foundation’s numerous significant gifts to Hoag over the decades, encompassing facilities, technology, cancer care, cardiology, and more. Today, Allan and Sandy’s commitment continues with their daughter, Nancy Chase, and her husband, Irving, who also serves on the Hoag Hospital Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“We’re very Orange County-centric,” says Steve Muzzy of his original nuclear family, which includes his parents, Jim and Pam, and two brothers. In the 1980s, the Muzzys began their long history of support for their community hospital, Hoag. Since then, their philanthropic gifts, which include funding for fellowships and specialized endowed chairs, have helped elevate Hoag from community hospital to regional leader.
As a child, when Rick Taketa visited his father at work, he didn’t go to a conventional office; he went to Hoag, where Richard Taketa, MD, worked as a radiologist. The elder Dr. Taketa also was a volunteer leader who served on the Hoag Hospital Board of Directors. Over the decades, Hoag took on increasing significance in Rick’s life as a place of both joy and heartache: his siblings were born there; when he was 12, his mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer there, overcoming grave odds to become a three-time survivor; at 16, a Hoag doctor saved his leg from amputation after a serious soccer injury; and Hoag doctors were there for his wife Alexandra during complications following childbirth.
Nina Pham was an 18-year-old college freshman when her father, Binh Pham, relocated the family from Kansas to California for his new job in supply chain operations at Hoag.
“As he started to work with that team, I remember him talking so highly of everyone that he was working with,” Nina said. His enthusiasm was contagious. Six months later, Nina began working part time in Hoag’s radiology scheduling, and six months after that, her mother joined Hoag Clinic’s accounting team. “Everyone at Hoag is truly amazing,” said Nina, now a college graduate and full-time development specialist for the Hoag Hospital Foundation. “They truly care about their employees. They stand by their vision of not only taking care of the community of patients but the community of employees.”
Beyond Orange County, Ginny Ueberroth is best known as the wife of Peter, president of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Committee and former Commissioner of Baseball. But she’s made her own indelible mark on the local community.
“She was an early example of women’s empowerment,” says her daughter, Vicki Ueberroth Booth.
Nearly 50 years ago, after being diagnosed with breast cancer and receiving life-saving treatment at Hoag, Ginny laid the groundwork for the family’s longtime philanthropic commitment to Hoag Hospital. She became a founding member of Circle 1000, a women’s group that has raised more than $26 million for the Hoag Family Cancer Institute since 1987. As longtime chair of the Ueberroth Family Foundation, she has overseen funding of numerous women’s health initiatives at Hoag, including establishing the Ginny Ueberroth Executive Medical Director Endowed Chair for the Women’s Health Institute. A tireless volunteer, Ginny has also served on the Hoag Hospital Board of Directors.
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