Betty Irene Moore, the namesake and co-founder of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, died peacefully last December at the age of 95. She is remembered as an advocate for patients and families, a champion of nursing and a pioneer for improving health care, and credited for founding a school to transform health care.
Moore’s husband of 72 years, Gordon, passed away last March. Together, they co-founded the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which committed $100 million in 2007 to launch the nursing school at UC Davis. Through her vision, the foundation led a movement to equip and empower nurses to improve patient care. This was based on Moore’s personal experiences when in the hospital and in caring for others who had been hospitalized. She saw how nurses play a critical role in the delivery of safe, quality care and set out to improve it by investing in the very people who deliver 95% of the care people receive.
In a foundation release, leaders recalled her passion for improving the human condition, support of her husband during his graduate school years and her legacy that “best be remembered for her contributions to improving patient care.”
The foundation chose UC Davis based on their shared vision to face the nation’s health care problems by integrating the best of care and scientific practices with multiple disciplines in higher education for nurses. At the time of launch, it was the largest philanthropic grant to UC Davis, one of the largest in the history of the UC, and the largest philanthropic gift in the nation in support of nursing education.
“We are grateful that Betty Irene Moore chose UC Davis Health as the place to realize her vision of nurses as leaders in delivering better and safer care to patients and their families,” said UC Davis Health CEO David Lubarsky, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.S.A. “By founding the School of Nursing, she planted the seeds of change here in Sacramento that are now spreading everywhere across the nation — elevating the practice of nursing across the entire profession. Every graduate of the school leaves with the knowledge and desire to be an agent of change for the better.”
Moore’s advocacy for patient safety, quality nursing care and education ignited a movement around these issues. It served as the impetus behind the San Francisco-based Foundation’s Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative. It is further amplified by the school’s approach to education, where nurses and other professionals are prepared to lead changes.
“I think about Betty Irene Moore every day. Her call to us to make health care better, make it safer, make it better quality, remember me the patient and my family. That call is something that resonates with each and every one of us,” said Heather M. Young, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., the school’s founding dean. “I’m proud to be one of the now over a thousand members of Betty’s Army. She called us to drive real change. Her vision and the foundation’s commitment to and belief in us inspired nurses from across settings and populations to pursue graduate education so they could advance health and improve systems of care to be more equitable and of higher quality and value.”
Betty Irene Moore Hall
The school’s momentum led to 2017’s opening of the Betty Irene Moore Hall, a state-of-the-science facility that heralded a second phase of growth. Gordon Moore represented his wife at the building’s groundbreaking in 2015. Her sons, Ken and Steve Moore, along with their wives, Kristen and Kathleen Justice-Moore, represented Moore at the grand opening.
“I asked mom what she would want me to convey to this audience since she couldn’t be there. And she said, let them know how delighted I am that the Betty Irene Moore Hall is open and that I’m still around to see it,” joked Ken Moore, who along with Justice-Moore engaged with the school and architectural teams to design the special learning environment and supported the effort through the generosity of the Moore Family Foundation.
“The building is the result of the work of hundreds of people with countless ideas shared during many gatherings as my predecessors sought input into what a new health sciences education building needed to be,” explained Stephen J. Cavanagh, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., School of Nursing dean.
“I arrived in 2019 focused on both advancing our mission and leading the school into its next growth phase. True to Mrs. Moore’s vision, we continue to innovate in the degree programs we offer. Each is designed to serve the public need and advance our goal of optimal health and health equity for all.”
A caregiver who invested in caregiving
As someone who cared for members of her family during illnesses, Moore also recognized the important role of caregivers. In 2017, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation granted an additional $5 million to create the Family Caregiving Institute at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.
It works to expand the abilities and knowledge of family caregivers, and also improve the capacity of health professionals to partner more effectively with them.
“Mrs. Moore knew firsthand the joys and burdens that caring for family members can bring,” said institute Director Janice F. Bell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.N., F.A.A.N. “We are grateful to the foundation’s investment in the institute, where our research and education initiatives focus on supporting family caregivers engaged in complex care in the home.”
Fellowship promotes leadership, innovation
Betty Irene Moore’s passion to advance nursing spawned another initiative, which also combines Gordon Moore’s legacy of innovation. A $37.5 million grant established the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators in 2019, to prepare early-to-mid-career nurses as collaborative leaders to enact change. To date, 48 fellows have embarked on the three-year journey, including the 16 members of the largest cohort to date thanks to an additional $7.4 million grant last year.
