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Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has named a renowned expert specializing in gastrointestinal cancer as the new executive medical director of its Hoag Family Cancer Institute.
Dr. Steven Grossman’s appointment, announced April 28, comes amid Hoag’s $1.2 billion six-building expansion in Irvine. He replaces Dr. Burton Eisenberg, who is also Grace Hoag executive medical director endowed chair.
“I found the opportunity incredible to have an impact on this wonderful community here in Orange County, providing the best integrated, holistic, patient-centered care,” Grossman told the Business Journal.
“That’s what gets me up in the morning—delivering and helping provide care for this terrible disease that impacts our community.”
The expansion, kickstarted by an initial $50 million gift from David and Diana Sun, received another $50 million boost from the local philanthropic couple in January. Named in their honor, the Sun Family Campus will include a cancer and digestive health center that will be overseen by Grossman and Dr. Kenneth Chang, executive medical director of Hoag’s Digestive Health Institute.
The first phase of the expansion is slated to be completed by July 2026, according to officials.
Hoag is the second largest hospital in Orange County with $1.7 billion in net patient revenue ended Sept. 30, 2024, and counts 9,260 local employees.
Inaugural Physician-in-Chief of USC Cancer Center
Grossman, an oncologist with more than 20 years of experience, comes from USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Keck School of Medicine.
In 2020, he became the inaugural physician-in-chief of the cancer center.
Grossman arrived in Southern California from the East Coast five years ago.
Before USC, he had served as division chair of medical oncology, hematology and palliative care at the Virginia Commonwealth University for nine years. Two years into his time at Viriginia Commonwealth, Grossman was also appointed deputy director of the university’s Massey Cancer Center.
Grossman said the longer he stayed in Southern California, the more he saw Orange County as a place “where some of the best care was being delivered.”
“I would get together with some of our colleagues at other cancer centers and health systems and really got to know the region,” Grossman said.
Grossman, whose first day was on April 15, is helping oversee the operational side of the upcoming cancer and digestive health facility.
“A lot of my time has been taken up putting together the nuts and bolts of our new cancer clinic that’s going in the Irvine campus,” he said. “I’m so excited by that.”
The two-floor Cancer & Digestive Hospital Pavilion will feature 70 inpatient rooms, clinic and infusion spaces, a specialized pharmacy, gastrointestinal and fluoroscopy labs, six GI procedure suites and a 24-hour urgent care.
Over 100 Clinical Trials
Hoag’s network is organized into seven “centers of excellence” with different specialties, including Hoag Orthopedic Institute and the Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute.
The Hoag Family Cancer Institute, created in 1991, is dedicated to treating 35 types of cancer through therapies and new drug treatments.
Hoag has more than 100 clinical trials in cancer, tying into Hoag’s “privademic model,” which was one of the biggest draws to Hoag for Grossman. The idea is to combine the speed of the private sector with the talent of academic researchers.
“It takes a lot of investment and infrastructure for a health system to really do that well, and Hoag does it well because that’s what they’re all about,” he said.
The institute has received more than $25 million to date from Circle 1000, a philanthropic group that was founded by Newport Beach resident and breast cancer survivor Sandy Sewell.
Last May, Circle 1000 held its 37th Founders’ Celebration Brunch, raising $1 million for Hoag to recruit oncology physicians, fund research, programs and an annual nursing symposium.
Circle 1000 is also providing funds to support Grossman’s position, Hoag said.