Caring for the Orange County Community

Generations of Hearts Connected to Hoag

When golfers bellow “fore!” in March at the Hoag Classic, it will mark a fundraising tradition for the hospital that is nearly half a century strong.

When children in an underserved neighborhood in Huntington Beach need a safe and fun place to play, they meet at a beautiful new park just minutes from their homes.

And when Jason Yokobosky, a renowned surf photographer, injured himself while taking photos in the ocean, he used the lessons he learned as a Hoag patient to educate others as part of a remarkable program Hoag sponsors called Project Wipeout.

While these examples couldn’t be more different, what connects them are the compassionate and devoted hearts of those who give their time, money and talents to make them possible.

Throughout its history, Hoag has benefited from a wellspring of community goodwill that has ensured its special status as Orange County’s trusted health care partner. In this issue of Heart of Hoag, you’ll meet a few of the men and women who have made, and continue to make, that possible.

The stories begin with one about Marshall “Duffy” Duffield, whose family’s deep ties to Hoag began decades ago with his father, who played a seminal role in establishing the Hoag Classic — and, in fact, from preventing the hospital from being torn down for an ill-advised freeway through the heart of coastal Orange County.

Collectively, the stories, people and pictures in this issue represent only a fraction of the tens of thousands of county residents who give of themselves to ensure that, if and when you and others need it, the “Heart of Hoag” will be there.

Today, and always.

Robert T. Braithwaite

President and Chief Executive Officer

Read the February 2020 issue