Meet Our Donors
Joe Connell, Ph.D.
As a child, Joe Connell, Ph.D., enjoyed watching large construction projects, fascinated by the moving equipment, construction crews and the rise of a new building. As an adult, he experienced his childhood passion again as he viewed one of Castro Valley's largest construction projects from the deck of his home.
A retired Catholic school administrator, Joe now offers strategic planning consulting services for religious and other non-profit organizations and serves on the Eden Medical Center Foundation Board of Trustees. Working from his home office, Joe enjoyed a bird's eye view of the construction of the seven-story Eden Medical Center, which opened its doors in December 2012.
The 25-year Castro Valley resident knows the importance of having excellent medical care available in the community. Joe has been a patient at Eden on a few occasions and is grateful for the high quality, compassionate care he received each time.
"The nursing staff at Eden Medical Center is phenomenal," he says. "The friendliness and positivity of the staff and physicians are very apparent."
Like many grateful patients, Joe feels strongly about supporting Eden and has contributed in many ways over the years. "The town deserves a great local hospital. Giving is a very personal decision, but when you support local health care, we're all better off because of it," he comments.
Joe and his partner, Leonardo Magdaleno, M.D., support Eden Medical Center through annual gifts and also participated in the capital campaign to construct the new medical center. A consulting room in the Emergency Department is now named in their honor.
More recently, the pair established a charitable gift annuity, which benefits Eden Medical Center and provides a charitable tax deduction and income stream to Joe and Leonardo.
"I didn't even know what a charitable gift annuity was before the Foundation talked with us about it," says Joe. "It was surprisingly easy to set up and provides a very nice monthly income and tax benefits."
Joe hopes his support of Eden Medical Center will inspire others to give and emphasizes that it does not require great wealth to make a lasting difference in the lives of others.
"If I can do it, you can do it," he adds.