Congratulations are in order: The Alta Bates Summit Foundation has satisfied the ambitious Centennial Campaign for Excellence $25 million fundraising goal — and then some. “We’re now at $27.7 million and counting,” says Darrell Sooy, Campaign Chair. “As of this printing, we’re still in the process of receiving major gifts.”

The campaign, which kicked off in 2003, primarily benefits three Alta Bates Summit Centers of Excellence — Cardiology, Oncology, and Women & Infants — and its soon-to-be-established Family Resource Centers. “We deeply appreciate the campaign’s support, which came from so many different parts of the community and was at unprecedented levels for any community hospital campaign in this area,” says Sooy, who also extended thanks to campaign committee chairs and members, and the Medical Center’s volunteer leadership, its board, and the Foundation’s. “Employee and physician support came in at record levels as well. Volunteers and auxiliaries stepped up, and a number of people made sure to include the Medical Center in their estate plans.”

The campaign provides the Medical Center a “margin of excellence,” adds Sooy. Given today’s thin operating margins, he explains, hospitals can provide the latest programs and services and state-of-the-art equipment only with the help of philanthropy. (For details of some campaign purchases, see “Campaign Donations Are Already at Work.”)

“The success of this campaign demonstrates the community’s interest in having health care that’s available, accessible, and at a high level of competency,” concludes Sooy. “It enables Alta Bates Summit to better fulfill its mission and respond to the changing health care needs of the East Bay.”