He comes off as a hip Hollywood entrepreneur ““ clad in
jeans, a sweater and sunglasses ““ and by all accounts,
he’s plenty shrewd. In 1971, 25-year-old Peter Morton and a
friend opened up a Hard Rock Café in London, never dreaming
the restaurant would become a symbol of Americana and that he would
sell his chain for $410 million.
More than three decades later, Morton continues to focus on his
business ventures, but has also chosen the philanthropic route.
It was announced Friday that Morton, owner of the Hard Rock
Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, donated an undisclosed amount to the
UCLA Medical Center.
The 200 Medical Plaza building has now been renamed after
Morton, who also owns a restaurant in West Hollywood.
“This gift just came at the absolute right time and is a
wonderful thing for our patients, doctors and the hospital,”
said Dr. Gerald Levey, vice chancellor for medical sciences and
dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine.
The 200 building is one of three in the medical plaza and houses
outpatient services for the UCLA Medical Center. It includes
consulting suites for general surgery, head and neck surgery,
plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery and surgical oncology.
The funds will be used to relocate the Clark Urological Center
into the Morton building, which is considered necessary because
many patients travel between the two centers for various
services.
Additionally, outpatient surgery will be expanded from eight
rooms to 15, which will ease the heavily trafficked area and add
critical surgery space, Levey said.
The Radiation Oncology Center will also be upgraded with new
equipment, including a cobalt machine and three linear
accelerators. Both are used to treat patients with cancer, a
disease affecting an estimated 1.2 million Americans each year,
according to the American Cancer Society.
Donations to the UCLA medical centers and programs are vital in
maintaining the UCLA’s role as the leading health care
provider in the west coast, Levey said.
“Our goal is to continually upgrade facilities for
scientists,” Levey said.
“Anything we can do better, the community benefits by
having better health services,” he added.
Morton’s donation marks the second time in as many years
that UCLA’s medical program has given a namesake to a
substantial donor.
In May 2002, the UCLA School of Medicine was named after
entertainment giant David Geffen, who donated $200 million to the
school. The donation stands as the largest gift given to the
University of California in its 135-year history.