A Legacy of Caring Close to Home
For Jinnie Simonsen, supporting MarinHealth is about much more than philanthropy. It’s about community, relationships—and making sure that exceptional healthcare is always close to home.
“I believe in having a strong, independent community hospital that is there for everyone when they need it,” Jinnie says. “Philanthropic support provides MarinHealth with technology and resources beyond its operating budget so we don’t have to cross a bridge into the city to receive exceptional healthcare.”
That belief has grown from Jinnie’s own experiences with healthcare and the relationships she has built over many years at MarinHealth. As a longtime Marin resident and patient, she has come to know and trust many MarinHealth physicians, including retired cardiologist David Sperling, MD; medical oncologist and hematologist Alex Metzger, MD; and orthopedic spine surgeon Brian Su, MD, and others.
Those relationships helped transform Jinnie’s appreciation for MarinHealth into something deeper: a desire to help ensure that the same outstanding care will be here for her neighbors, friends, and generations to come.
Jinnie made her first gift to MarinHealth Foundation in 2014. But writing a check was never going to be the extent of her involvement. In 2022, she joined the MarinHealth Foundation Board, where she currently serves as Secretary. The following year, she chaired the MarinHealth Foundation Gala benefiting the Haynes Heart & Vascular Institute. Today, she serves as Honorary Chair of the Campaign Cabinet for the Building on Excellence Campaign, helping advance the future expansion of the MarinHealth Medical Center campus.
Her commitment to healthcare, however, began long before her relationship with MarinHealth. Growing up in Washington State, Jinnie watched members of her family face serious health challenges. Those experiences helped shape her belief that access to excellent medical care can change the course of a person’s life.
“As I grew older, I wanted to help others seek the medical care they needed,” she says. For Jinnie, investing in MarinHealth is one way to make that possible. Philanthropy can help bring new technology and advanced programs to the community, strengthen facilities, and help MarinHealth attract and retain exceptional physicians and clinical teams.
A Gift for Today—and Tomorrow
This year, Jinnie took that commitment even further with a transformational gift to the Building on Excellence Campaign. Her contribution combines an outright gift with a legacy gift through her estate plans—allowing her to make an impact both today and in the future. She hopes her decision will inspire others to think about what philanthropy can make possible.
And the legacy she plans to leave extends beyond MarinHealth. Jinnie is actively talking with her nieces and nephews about the responsibility—and the joy—of giving back. “I’m educating my extended family about the impact of philanthropy,” she says. “It’s imperative to me that they carry on the tradition of giving to the community.”
It is a tradition Jinnie herself has embraced wholeheartedly: caring for the place she calls home and helping ensure that others will have access to exceptional care when they need it most. “Making a difference in the lives of others is extremely important to me,” she says. “It’s something I think about every day.” For Jinnie, that may ultimately be the most meaningful legacy of all.