Donors Give to Heart Program

A community inspired by legend and motivated by legacy, the Monterey Peninsula has a long-standing tradition of naming its achievements. If unacquainted with the names of those who came before, we are introduced to them on the buildings and organizations they endowed, and imbued with their stories by those who keep their names, their contributions, their work alive.

When William and Susanne Tyler made the decision to make an anonymous donation to Community Hospital that would support its comprehensive heart program, they understood the significance of their contribution and the impact it could have on the community. Particularly since William Tyler had, himself, been a recipient of cardiac care.

"I identified with the importance of top cardiac services," says Tyler. "Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with a heart condition, an arrhythmia in the upper chamber, which required an ablation. It's not dramatic and not life-threatening if managed, but it was very disconcerting and certainly ratcheted up our awareness of heart issues."

What the Tylers, who moved to the Peninsula four years ago, did not yet understand, was the impact not only their contribution but also their name could have on the community.

"When we spoke with Chief Development Officer Al Alvarez," says Tyler, "he explained that by putting our name on our gift, we might encourage others to do something on behalf of other hospital needs." To that end, Community Hospital is pleased to announce the establishment of the Tyler Heart Institute.

The institute includes all the cardiac services the hospital has provided for decades ? a wide array of education, wellness, diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitation services ? as well as the cardiac catheterization lab, which opened in 2005, and now the open-heart surgery program that began February 13.

The Tylers believe that the story lies not in their donation but in the impact it will have on the hospital and the welfare of the community.

"When we moved to the Peninsula," says Tyler, "we were shocked to find that people who lived a stone's throw from Community Hospital were having to drive to Salinas or San Francisco for major heart surgery. Now, the hospital has a heart program that will stand shoulder to shoulder with other major heart programs in the country. That is significant."

One of the first things the Tylers noticed about the Monterey Peninsula when they arrived was that it felt like home. Part of that is because, although they've lived in many places and traveled to more, they both grew up in the Golden State. Yet mostly it's because they found that the people of this community seem to value, above all else, one another.

Having realized they had reached a point in their lives where they were ready and able to give generously, to do something of significance, they understood that their work should begin at home.

"Wherever you grow up in the world," says Tyler, "you have ownership of that place and in those experiences for the rest of your life. It's part of who you are. Despite all the places I've lived and traveled over the years since my boyhood in El Centro, California, those years fade compared with the colorful and unforgettable growing-up years.

"So, moving back to California, to the Monterey Peninsula, was our coming home. It is just so natural, so right to be here. This is where we live, this is our home, this is the community where we should leave our legacy."