Local successful entrepreneurs turned pioneering philanthropists, Gary and Mary West have been loyal UC San Diego supporters for over a decade. The Wests have established West Health, a family of three nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations with a singular mission of lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to have access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. They have recently supported the university with a capital grant to create the Gary and Mary West Senior Emergency Care Unit at UC San Diego Health, which opened in 2019. Additional funding from the West Health Institute is being used to conduct multiyear medical research for developing, evaluating and disseminating innovative care approaches for geriatric patients. The couple continues to set the standard for senior emergency care through the Gary and Mary West Emergency Department at UC San Diego Health.