SAN DIEGO — Scripps Health announced Wednesday a $45 million donation from area developer and philanthropist Conrad Prebys to fund construction of its cardiovascular center at the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla campus.The donation is the largest ever given to Scripps and the biggest by Prebys.”It’s beyond my wildest dreams to be a part of the best,” Prebys told 10News.The seven-story center, on which construction began last month, will be named the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute.Prebys said he was bedridden for one year in his youth because of a heart infection caused by stepping on a rusty belt buckle. He told 10 News what the doctor told him back then: “He said you will be living a sedentary lifestyle for the rest of your life.”His donation stems partly from his family’s medical history. He lost one brother to cardiovascular problems and has another one still suffering.”That experience from my childhood never left me,” Prebys said. “Now here I am, part of what will be the best heart care center there is, with the greats of the medical world, research and innovation that will help mankind.”Scripps Health considers the $456 million institute, which will integrate cardiovascular programs throughout the organization, to be the cornerstone of a 25-year plan to redevelop its La Jolla location. Patients of Kaiser Permanente will also use the facility.The 383,000-square-foot institute — with 108 inpatient beds in private rooms, 60 intensive care beds, six operating rooms and up to six cardiac catheterization labs — is expected to open in four years.”It’s going to make all the difference for more people who have the same problem that I had,” said Lester Tenney, a heart patient who recently had a heart valve replaced at Scripps La Jolla.The head of the Prebys Cardiovascular Institute, Dr. Paul Teirstein, said it’ll also uplift the entire healthcare environment in San Diego.”As we improve and create excellence, the rest of the west coast will do the same,” said Teirstein.Prebys in March gave $15 million to the San Diego Zoo for a new koala exhibit and upgrades to other areas of the park. He has also provided gifts of $10 million or more to The Old Globe, Scripps Mercy Hospital and the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research.”I’ve embraced Andrew Carnegie’s philosophy that excess wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community,” Prebys said.After growing up in a working-class neighborhood in South Bend, Ind., the Prebys moved to San Diego and converted $500 into a thriving real estate and construction business, Progress Construction and Management Co., which the Point Loma resident founded in 1966.Among the larger donations in recent years in San Diego are:– Ernest Rady, who built a fortune in automobile financing, gave $60 million in 2006 to Children’s Hospital, which now carries his last name — Rady previously gave $30 million to the UC San Diego School of Management — Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, gave $20 million to the first phase of construction to the new Central LibraryFundraisers for the new library expect another $20 million donation will be made for the second phase of building, but the prospective donor has not been identified.At a reception in his honor on Wednesday, Prebys received a standing ovation. He admitted his desire to give comes from the child within, and he said his motivation comes straight out of the classic tale “A Christmas Carol,” in which Ebenezer Scrooge wakes up Christmas morning and realizes it’s not too late to experience the joy of giving.”I discovered it’s a lot more fun to do this while I’m alive,” said Prebys.
