Infusing compassion into Sharp’s newest hospital

By this time next year, the doors of the new hospital tower at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center will be open to San Diego. Its seven floors will be filled with healing environments, advanced technologies and skilled caregivers dedicated to the well-being of our community.

Funded with the help of visionary philanthropic donors, the South Bay’s first new hospital in more than 40 years will also be infused with their spirit of compassion for fellow neighbors.

Meet donor Helga Leonhardt
“I want to bring people solace, peace and healing through my giving,” says Helga Leonhardt, an inventor, professor and nearly 50-year San Diego resident who recently pledged a donation of her Point Loma home to support the Above and Beyond campaign to build the next-generation hospital tower at Sharp Chula Vista.

After decades of commitment to advancing both communication and pharmaceuticals, as well as serving others as a missionary in Africa and local church volunteer, Leonhardt is making another meaningful mark as a philanthropic investor in Sharp’s newest hospital.

Supporting the technological and the human side of health care
The appreciation for technology that she has cultivated in her life’s work inspired Leonhardt to give in support of the surgical unit in the new hospital tower.

“I consider myself a futuristic person, a pioneer,” says Leonhardt. “When I saw the robotic surgical instruments — so precise that they can incise a grape or unwrap a piece of candy — that will equip the new hospital, I knew that that was the area of care my donation was meant to support.”

But the human element of care is equally important to her.

“This gift is another way to transfer love to people the same way I have in my classrooms, as a missionary and in my church,” she says. “People are often fearful and full of anxiety when they visit the hospital, but I know I can help them — not directly, but through the Sharp HealthCare Foundation and its financial support of this important project.”

Leonhardt’s personal tour of the new hospital construction site affirmed her enthusiasm around this charitable investment in the future of care for the San Diego community.

“From the beautiful vistas and modern lounges to the warm chapel, it is clear that the new hospital has been designed to make patients feel at ease,” she says. “I am extremely grateful that I was invited to tour and able to donate my family home to support this project because now it is a part of me. It is my hospital.”

Helga Leonhardt supported not-for-profit Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center through a planned gift. To learn more about leaving a legacy by arranging a planned gift to Sharp, visit give.sharp.com/planned-gifts. To learn more about the new hospital tower at Sharp Chula Vista and its philanthropic campaign, and to schedule your own tour, visit sharp.com/chulavistaexpansion.