LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya and his wife have donated $250,000 to the Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles to help in the fight against the coronavirus, it was announced today.
“Adventist Health White Memorial is my hospital,” De La Hoya said. “They took incredible care of my mother when she was fighting breast cancer. During this time of crisis, White Memorial is incurring extraordinary expenses as they continue to provide quality care to our Boyle Heights Los Angeles community.”
The ex-boxer said he and his wife, Millie, made the donation from the Oscar De La Hoya Foundation to the Adventist Health White Memorial Charitable Foundation to help with the hospital's critical, unexpected expenses.
“I am challenging my peers -- celebrities, athletes, business leaders and community leaders -- to donate to White Memorial or your local hospital to help during this crisis,” De La Hoya said.
De La Hoya, who was born in East Los Angeles, won multiple world titles during his career as a professional boxer 1992 to 2008, including a gold medal for the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
“Oscar is a major philanthropist and donor to our hospital,” said John Raffoul, president of White Memorial. “We are continually honored by the generosity of his gifts. Oscar and Millie are our heroes.”
De La Hoya is a longtime donor to the hospital, where several departments are named in his honor, including the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center, the Oscar De La Hoya Labor & Delivery Center and the Oscar De La Hoya Neonatal Intensive Care Center.
Adventist Health White Memorial's patients are 90% Hispanic. As a safety-net hospital, it is the only private, nonprofit hospital providing comprehensive care for the federally designated medically underserved area of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, Raffoul said.
“COVID-19 continues to spread quickly throughout the nation,” said Millie Corretjer, the retired boxer's wife. “Those who work in health care and at our hospitals are truly heroes, stepping up in a way that deserves our gratitude and admiration. This is our way of saying thank you.”
White Memorial is a part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 75 communities in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.
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