The Lovelace Fund for Medical Excellence is used for programs that assist Sansum Clinic in the recruitment and retention of physicians, including the Physician Housing and the Facility Improvement Programs. It is also used for other endeavors which ensure medical excellence for our patients.
Sansum Clinic’s Board of Trustees established The Lovelace Fund for Medical Excellence in 2012 as a tribute to the late Jon Lovelace and the Lovelace Family for their visionary support of Sansum Clinic.
In addition to the Lovelace Family we also receive support from a number of other community contributors, including our Trustees who have embraced the vision of the Lovelace Family in supporting Sansum Clinic.
The Lovelace Fund for Medical Excellence and the Physician Housing and Facility Improvement Programs help provide a lasting legacy to Sansum Clinic and Santa Barbara and the patients who trusted us with their medical care last year. It also enables the Clinic to keep pace with the rapidly changing healthcare environment, and anticipating the community’s needs.
Physician Housing Program
The very generous financial support of the Lovelace Family has been instrumental in the recruitment and retention of highly skilled physicians in a broad range of specialties and practice areas coming to Santa Barbara through our innovative Physician Housing Program.
The physician housing program has been designed to be a revolving fund, whereby the proceeds from future home sales will be used to repay outstanding loans and flow back into the program, where they can be used again to help future physicians meet their housing needs.
In 2022 there were 31 physicians in the loan program who saw
32,783 unique patients at
75,523 patient visits in specialties that included
Cardiology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, Hospitalists, Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Pain Management, Palliative Care, Psychiatry, Pulmonary/Critical Care, Rheumatology, Surgery, Surgical Oncology and
Urology.
Already in 2023 we have extended loan offers to
seven physicians. Physicians have 18 to 24 months in which to use the loan and loans range from $200,000 up to $300,000.
In our high priced real estate market our new physicians are experiencing some challenges finding affordable homes. No sooner does a home go on the market than there are many offers and most offers are well over the asking price. Some are renting while they take the time to find the right home for their family. There are even challenges in the rental market.
This program remains one of our highest priorities and enables us to continue to attract top caliber physicians from around the United States to provide the best medical care possible for our patients and the community...now and into the future.
We established a similar program for
Nurse Practitioners and
Physician Assistants and extended home loans to one Nurse Practitioner and one Physician Assistant
. This program enables the Clinic to provide more team based care for patients.
Connie Frank and Evan Thompson Housing Assistance Fund
We are grateful to Connie Frank and Evan Thompson for their interest and generous support of shared appreciation loans for physicians. This new fund was utilized by an internal medicine physician to purchase a home in Santa Barbara who joined Sansum Clinic in September 2022.
Facility Improvement Program
This program assists us in modernizing our facilities to enhance our patients’ experience and support our ongoing efforts to attract the highest caliber physicians from around the United States.
To help position us for continued success in the future we expanded our Foothill Surgery Center from four to six operating rooms to meet the growing demand for outpatient surgery. In 2024 we will open the Connie Frank Breast Imaging Center to enhance the experience of the tens of thousands of patients who come to us for breast imaging each year. We are planning to expand our services in Solvang to ensure patients in the Santa Ynez Valley have better access to the high quality healthcare we provide.
For information about the
Lovelace Fund for Medical Excellence or to make a gift of support please contact
Dru A. Hartley, Director of Philanthropy at Sansum Clinic at (805) 681-7726,
dhartley@sansumclinic.org
