How Bob and Dolores Hope Helped Build Eisenhower Medical Center
An 80-acre land gift, years of fundraising and Dolores Hope’s leadership helped turn a desert hospital campaign into a lasting Rancho Mirage institution.
The name on the hospital is Eisenhower. Two of the people who helped make it possible were Bob and Dolores Hope.
Their contribution began with land, but it did not end there. Bob brought the reach of a famous entertainer and fundraiser. Dolores brought sustained leadership to the board and helped organize the volunteer network that supported the hospital before it admitted a patient.
Look across today’s Eisenhower Medical Center campus and the result is much larger than a single gift or building. Its beginnings connect a practical need for healthcare with the people, country clubs and philanthropic networks that shaped Rancho Mirage.
- Bob and Dolores Hope donated 80 acres in 1966 for the hospital site.
- Dolores led the board and helped organize the Auxiliary; Bob brought fundraising reach and public support.
- The hospital was dedicated November 27, 1971, and began admitting patients that December.
- The photographs show the campus in 2026, including the Annenberg Pavilion, which opened in 2010.
The need behind the famous names
Eisenhower Health’s account of its beginnings identifies Florence Swanson as an important early advocate. Her husband, W. Clarke Swanson, suffered a fatal brain aneurysm while golfing at Thunderbird Country Club. Florence asked her friend Dolores Hope to help raise money for a community hospital in the central Coachella Valley.
That story helps explain the urgency behind the campaign. The area’s appeal as a place to visit or live did not eliminate the need for nearby medical care. A resort community also needed the institutions that make ordinary life possible.
According to the hospital’s history, local supporters directed part of the proceeds from the Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic toward the project. The event, renamed the Bob Hope Desert Classic in 1965, connected golf, entertainment and charitable fundraising.
The land gift gave the campaign a place to grow
In 1966, Bob and Dolores Hope donated 80 acres for the hospital site. Eisenhower’s published historical timeline records the gift, followed by the 1969 groundbreaking with Bob serving as master of ceremonies.
The donation gave the campaign something concrete: a location for the institution its supporters wanted to build. But land still had to become a functioning hospital, with construction, equipment, staff and an organization prepared to operate it.
The contemporary record credits a wider circle, too. The published notes accompanying President Richard Nixon’s dedication remarks say the land came from the Hopes and funding for the nonprofit hospital came from trustees and friends. The couple’s role was central within a collective effort.
Dolores Hope’s work continued beyond the donation
Dolores became president of the hospital’s board of trustees in 1968. That role placed her inside the work of establishing the institution, as well as in front of potential supporters.
The Auxiliary’s own historical account adds a more personal scene: Dolores gathering a small group of women for tea at her home to begin organizing support. The organization took shape in 1969. Its history names other early leaders, including Phyllis Byrne, Kay Waycott and Florence Hamilton.
These details matter because they show how the campaign extended beyond celebrity appearances. Meetings, membership, volunteer assignments and recurring fundraising created a way for many more people to contribute.
Bob’s public visibility helped bring entertainers into the effort. Eisenhower’s history lists participants including Bing Crosby, Gene Autry, Lucille Ball and Sammy Davis Jr. Dolores’s involvement was long-lasting: she remained connected to the medical center’s boards through her death in 2011.
November 27, 1971: the dedication, then the patients
The formal dedication of Eisenhower Memorial Hospital took place on November 27, 1971. Bob hosted the ceremony. Nixon Library photographic records document President Richard Nixon, First Lady Pat Nixon, Mamie Eisenhower, Bob and Dolores Hope, and Governor Ronald Reagan among those present.
Nixon’s remarks framed a hospital as a living memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower: a place where work to preserve life would continue after the ceremony. The transcript also identifies Dolores as president of the board of trustees.
The dedication and the start of patient care are distinct milestones. Eisenhower’s historical materials describe the original hospital as having 138 patient beds and record its first patient in December 1971. A later Eisenhower Health account also places the opening to patients in December.
The difference is small on a calendar but important to the story. November brought the public dedication. December began the daily work for which the hospital had been built.
From a land gift to an enduring institution
- 1966Bob and Dolores Hope donate 80 acres for the hospital site.
- 1968Dolores becomes president of the board of trustees.
- 1969Bob hosts the groundbreaking; the Auxiliary begins organizing.
- November 27, 1971Eisenhower Memorial Hospital is formally dedicated.
- December 1971The hospital begins admitting patients.
- November 2010The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Pavilion opens for patient care.
Opening the hospital was a beginning
The work of supporting Eisenhower continued after 1971. The Auxiliary developed a lasting fundraising and volunteer presence, including Collectors Corner on Highway 111.
Eisenhower’s history of the shop dates its opening at that location to November 15, 1973. Today, the health system describes the shop as part of the Dolores Hope Auxiliary’s fundraising, supporting equipment, education, scholarships and building projects.
The shop grew out of fundraising that began before the hospital opened. Eisenhower’s 2023 retrospective describes a 1970 merchandise sale and dinner that raised $58,000. The following year, supporters gathered in tents on the still-unfinished hospital grounds and raised more than $100,000. Frank Sinatra contributed a classic London taxi to the sale.
Those events give the campaign a human scale: people donating possessions, volunteers organizing them and a hospital taking shape around the tents. The later shop made that kind of support a continuing activity.
The campus also grew through later philanthropy. The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Pavilion opened for patient care in November 2010. Its name connects the hospital to another family whose presence is part of Rancho Mirage’s history, explored in our Sunnylands story.
What the photographs let us see today
These photographs show the campus on October 13, 2026. The pavilions, palm-lined grounds and surrounding medical buildings provide a present-day connection to a story that began decades earlier.
They also help explain why the Hopes’ contribution still matters locally. The hospital became a place people navigate for appointments, visit to see family, or consider when choosing where to live. A fundraising campaign became part of the valley’s daily geography.
That is the most useful way to read this history: recognize the Hopes’ land, leadership and fundraising while also recognizing the trustees, donors, volunteers and healthcare workers who made the institution work and kept it growing.
For the broader setting, read how guest ranches, country clubs and presidents helped shape Rancho Mirage.
Explore Eisenhower and the surrounding area
Our Eisenhower campus guide pairs original photographs with building names, official maps and visitor resources. For a residential perspective, Living Near Eisenhower Health compares nearby communities and their approaches to the hospital.
Continue through the Rancho Mirage collection to explore the city in photographs.
Questions about the Hopes and Eisenhower
What did Bob and Dolores Hope donate to Eisenhower Medical Center?
They donated 80 acres for the hospital site in 1966. They also helped sustain the campaign through fundraising and leadership; the hospital was a broader effort involving other trustees, donors and supporters.
What role did Dolores Hope have in building the hospital?
Dolores became president of the board of trustees in 1968 and helped organize the Auxiliary in 1969. Her involvement continued for decades, through her death in 2011.
When did Eisenhower Medical Center open?
Eisenhower Memorial Hospital was formally dedicated on November 27, 1971. Eisenhower’s historical materials place the beginning of patient admissions in December 1971.
Was the Annenberg Pavilion part of the original 1971 hospital?
No. The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Pavilion opened for patient care in November 2010. The pavilion photographs in this article were taken by Mark Miller on October 13, 2026.
Where can I find campus maps and visitor information?
Visit our Eisenhower campus guide for official map links, building orientation and visitor resources. Confirm the exact building and office in your appointment instructions.
Sources and photo credits
Historical and official sources reviewed October 14, 2026. The dedication date and the beginning of patient admissions are treated as separate events.
- Eisenhower Health — The Legendary Legacy of Eisenhower Medical Center — Originally published October 27, 2017. Early advocacy, Dolores’s board role and the fundraising campaign.
- Eisenhower Medical Center — Building a Foundation for Health Care As It Should Be (PDF) — Historical timeline: the land gift, groundbreaking, original capacity and December patient admissions.
- The American Presidency Project — Nixon’s dedication remarks — November 27, 1971. Presidential remarks and contemporary notes crediting the Hopes, trustees and friends.
- Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum — November 27, 1971 — White House photographic records of the dedication and hospital tour.
- Eisenhower Medical Center Auxiliary — An Historical Perspective (PDF) — Historical accounts of organizing, early volunteers and continuing fundraising.
- Eisenhower Health — Collectors Corner, 50 years — 2023 retrospective dating the Highway 111 shop opening to November 15, 1973.
- Eisenhower Health — Collectors Corner — The shop’s connection to the Dolores Hope Auxiliary and its fundraising purposes.
- Eisenhower Health — Walter and Leonore Annenberg Pavilion — Official location history records the opening for patient care in November 2010.
- Eisenhower Health — HealthNotes account of Meg and David Firestone — Additional confirmation that the hospital opened to patients in December 1971.
All photographs in this article are original images by Mark Miller, captured October 13, 2026. They document the present-day campus, not historical ceremonies.
