LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has received a $10 million pledge from The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation for the construction of its state-of-the-art New Hospital Building, according to an announcement [Oct. 13, 2009] today by New Hospital Building Campaign Co-chairs "Entertainment Tonight" Mary Hart and entertainment industry executive Chris Albrecht.

Mr. Albrecht said that Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is "enormously grateful" to Maurice and Nathalie Marciano, who made the pledge on behalf of The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation. He confirmed that the Emergency Department and Trauma Center in the New Hospital Building will be named The Maurice and Nathalie Marciano Emergency Department and Trauma Center in recognition "...of Maurice and Nathalie's generosity and commitment to the children and families of our community."

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is designated as a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center by the Los Angeles County EMS Agency, and it is the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in Los Angeles County verified by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons.

Mr. Marciano is a co-founder and chairman of Guess, Inc., one of the most recognized and influential brand names in the fashion industry. Mrs. Marciano is a film producer.

The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation is among the ten "Champions for Children," a group of donors who have each pledged or given $5 million, or more, toward the completion of the New Hospital Building at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation also has supported other programs at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, including the Children's Fund and the HOPE Program.

"We were deeply touched by our visit to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and are inspired by this wonderful place of hope and healing," Mr. Marciano said, adding, "we want to invest in the health and well-being of the children of this community for generations to come by supporting the creation of the New Hospital Building."

Mrs. Marciano said, "Children are our most precious resource, and Southern California simply must have world-class health hospital facilities for the sickest of the sick and most critically injured children."

She said that it is clear that there is no other children's hospital on the West Coast that offers "...the unique blend of patient care, teaching and research, together with a family-centered care environment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles," one of only 10 children's hospitals in the nation -- and the only children's hospital on the West Coast -- ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the 2009 U.S.