The Children’s Hospital of Orange County

Pacific Life and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC): Partnering in our Community Since the 1980s.

On Friday, June 22, 2018, CHOC Children’s Foundation bestowed on Pacific Life its highest honor, the Charley Hester Award for an Outstanding Corporation, for exemplifying the ideals of philanthropy and volunteerism in service. A moving video was presented and Pacific Life’s Chairman, President and CEO Jim Morris proudly accepted the award from CHOC Foundation Board Chair Shurti Miyashiro.

Pacific Life’s support of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) can be traced back to the mid-1980s. We’ve supported patients at CHOC throughout the years in various way, including one-time grants, multi-year grants, as well as through our matching gifts program. Our total funding to CHOC to date is nearly $700,000.

Pacific Life Foundation’s largest and most significant commitment was made at the end of 2015, pledging a $500,000 capital grant. At the time, there were no inpatient mental health services for children under age 12 in Orange County, and there was a shortage of beds (only 32) for teenagers. The Foundation’s grant supported CHOC’s Pediatric Mental Health Initiative to address the need of opening an inpatient mental health program on CHOC’s main campus. The center was inaugurated on March 29, 2018. The 18-bed center now serves children who are a danger to themselves or others, or whose mental health condition makes them otherwise unable to function. The LA Times recently profiled the newly opened center: CHOC celebrates completion of O.C.'s only mental health inpatient center for children under 12.

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