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• updated 01/22/2013 3:15PM Local philanthropist donates $27M to CHOC Children’s CHOC Children’s has received a gift of $27 million dollars from retired O.C. resident Bill Holmes. The generosity of the gift will place Holmes’ name on the new pediatric hospital's South Tower in Orange, set to open in the spring.
  
  The gift is the largest single donation CHOC Children’s has ever received from a living benefactor, and is the first to name a whole building. The 425,000-square-foot tower will include pediatric surgical suites, an emergency department, radiology, pathology, imaging and laboratories, as well as enhanced family amenities and a design and décor that provide a friendly, healing environment for children.
  
  A resident of Newport Beach, Holmes made his fortune in the swimming pool, spa and equipment business. He described the donation as his “legacy gift” to CHOC Children’s and the families in the community. “The new tower expands on what CHOC can do for the children in our community. Orange County residents should take tremendous pride in having a world-class pediatric facility here,” Holmes said.
  
  Holmes’ gift is part of a larger fundraising campaign for the organization. The ‘Change CHOC, Change the World’ initiative, launched in May 2010, seeks to raise $125 million in donations and gifts to fund the construction and opening of the new pediatric tower, which aims to be the safest children’s hospital in the nation. Other goals of the campaign include building up a significant endowment to support the recruitment of top pediatric specialists and experts to the hospital, and to support the hospital’s ongoing partnership with academic and research partner UC Irvine.
  
  “We are extremely grateful for the support from Mr. Holmes,” said Kim Cripe, president and CEO of CHOC Children’s. “His generous donation will help us usher in a new era at CHOC; one that truly transforms pediatric medicine, making children’s futures brighter than ever.”
  
  As of September 2012, CHOC Children’s had reported that it had raised $120 million toward its goal. The gift is in fact Holmes’ second contribution to CHOC Children’s; he previously donated $200,000 to the hospital, which included the naming rights to one of the private patient rooms on the tower’s oncology floor.
  
  
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