Sonoma Valley Hospital gets $3 million donation for emergency center

<p>A Sonoma couple who owns one of the nation's largest independent staffing firms is donating $3 million toward construction of a new emergency center at Sonoma Valley hospital.</p><p>Gary and Marcia Nelson cited personal reasons for making the gift. When their son Justin was 3-months-old, physicians at Sonoma Valley prevented his death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.</p><p>Justin is now married, has a child of his own and is completing his education at the Royal Veterinary College in London.</p><p>Gary and Marcia Nelson are the founders and major shareholders of the Nelson Family of Companies, which is headquartered in Sonoma.</p><p>Gary Nelson did not return a call seeking comment Friday.</p><p>The new emergency center is part of a $39 million expansion at Sonoma Valley Hospital to bring the 83-bed facility up to state-mandated seismic standards and improve services.</p><p>Construction got underway Thursday.</p><p>The project calls for a 16,000-square-foot, two-story addition to the west wing of the existing hospital, with construction expected to be completed by summer of 2013.</p><p>The project is being financed through a combination of general obligation bonds totaling $32 million and fund-raising. The district board has approved the final project budget of $39 million and is looking to raise the remaining $7 million.</p><p>Voters in the Sonoma Valley Health Care District in March overwhelmingly approved a five-year extension of the $195 parcel tax that helps support hospital operations.</p><p>Sonoma Valley voters first approved a $130 parcel tax for the hospital in 2002, and then granted an extension of the measure at the higher $195 level in 2007.</p><p>Hospital officials said they did not envision it taking so long to construct a new addition to the facility that in addition to meeting seismic safety standards should also improve the hospital's bottom line by streamlining operations.</p><p>The new building will include the hospital emergency room and surgery suites. The hospital passed a general obligation bond for $35 million in 2008 to cover project costs.</p><p>The hospital board in October unanimously approved increasing the cost for the new building by $7.5 million, bringing the total amount to $39 million.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com.</p>