UCI Health and UC Investments team up to advance solutions for healthcare challenges

UCI Health, Orange County’s academic health system, and UC Investments, the Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents of the University of California, today jointly announced the launch of a $50 million fund to invest in healthcare innovation and digital health aimed at revolutionizing patient care and public health.

The fund — the first such partnership between the university’s healthcare and investment enterprises — seeks to leverage the expertise and experience of UCI Health with the financial strength of the University of California (UC) system of 10 top-ranked campuses and five groundbreaking medical centers.

“Southern California is a hotbed of innovation in healthcare technology and services,” said UCI Health Chief Executive Officer Chad T. Lefteris. “Expanding patient access to care in novel ways and better managing chronic conditions are among the most pressing challenges facing the healthcare industry. Now is the time for UCI Health to also invest in the intellectual capital that will solve tomorrow’s problems.”

“We are delighted to partner with UCI Health at this critical juncture for the future of healthcare innovation and digital health,” said Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher, who manages the University of California’s $168 billion in investment assets. “This is a vibrant and growing investment opportunity set, which the pandemic has certainly shown us. The expert and experienced team at UCI Health is uniquely placed to take full advantage of the exciting transformations taking place at the intersection of technology and patient care.”

The UCI Health Innovation Fund will invest in digital and other health technologies and healthcare services that will reimagine patient care and experience, make it more personal and accessible, and learn from the pandemic’s impact on healthcare delivery.

“This UCI Health initiative reflects the value of a world-class public research institution engaged with one of the country’s most entrepreneurial regions” said UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman. “This new effort builds upon UCI’s unprecedented investments to empower our region’s next-generation innovation economy and will advance the development of technology-driven solutions for tomorrow’s healthcare challenges today.”

UC Investments, which has already invested more than $10 billion in healthcare innovation nationally and throughout the world, is committed to further cementing its relationships within the UC healthcare enterprise.

“This partnership between UCI Health and UC Investments is the right move at the right time,” said UC Regent Richard Sherman, chair of the Investments Committee. “I’m hopeful that our investment will accelerate even more discovery, improve healthcare and generate returns for the UC system. I see this as an important model for the future of collaboration between strategic partners within the university that take advantage of the tremendous opportunities within our UC ecosystem.”

Coupled with the recent groundbreaking of a $1.3 billion medical complex in Irvine and the millions of dollars invested in expanding and modernizing the UCI healthcare system’s flagship medical center in the city of Orange, the innovation fund further reflects UCI Health’s commitment to expanding care in its communities.

“During the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, UCI and UCI Health have redoubled their efforts to build and expand a health system best-suited to meet the needs of Orange County, one of the nation’s largest regions,” Lefteris said. “The pandemic highlighted the power of digital technologies to provide vital care services across geographies and time. We expect all forms of digitally enabled solutions to pervade our new medical center, the home, and all the virtual care space in between.”

“We will identify, test and scale robust and resilient solutions at our Orange campus and our innovation laboratory that challenge us to think differently about how healthcare is delivered. UCI Health will use this new dedicated fund to further enhance the innovative spirit of Orange County and beyond by creating investment partnerships that tap our experts and allow our facilities to serve as a living laboratory for healthcare solutions.”

To learn more, inquire via email at VCFund@hs.uci.edu. 

UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 459-bed acute care hospital, listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 21 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

UC Investments oversees the University of California’s investment portfolio, including its endowment, pension, retirement savings plan, and working capital, totaling some $168 billion in assets under management. The portfolio spans both private and public assets, investments that provide substantial benefits to current and retired employees and support the university’s mission of education, research and public service.