Fresno hospital’s ‘historic’ $13.6M donation will pay for a major renovation
One of Fresno’s oldest hospitals will construct a new emergency department thanks to a $13.6 million donation.
St. Agnes Medical Center announced Thursday its “historic” donation from the King J. Richter Estate. The donation is the largest in the hospital’s 96-year-history.
Funds from the estate gift will be utilized to support the construction of a new emergency department, invest in new medical technology and devices and improve access to care, St. Agnes said in a statement.
Saint Agnes is a 436-bed general acute-care hospital. The 63-bed emergency department currently handles around 90,000 annual visits, according to a hospital spokesperson.
“The generosity of King J. Richter will allow Saint Agnes to invest directly in our facilities and care services to ensure we can meet the growing and complex needs of our community right here at home for generations to come,” said Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, Saint Agnes president and market leader. “Our entire Saint Agnes family of colleagues, physicians and community members are grateful to Richter for his support of our healing ministry.”
Ronald Wathen, Saint Agnes Board Chair, said the Catholic hospital, owned by Michigan-based health system Trinity Health, “is building for a brighter future in Valley health care.”
“As Board Chair, I get to witness firsthand the sacred, healing work happening here at the hospital every day, and this extraordinary gift will only multiply this great work,” Wathen said.
In February, the hospital also announced an expanded partnership with the Clovis-based California Health Sciences University to provide clinical rotations to third-year medical students as well as elective clinical rotations in sub-specialties for fourth-year students.
Valley philanthropist makes historic gifts
The Richter family has a long history of business and philanthropy in the Central Valley. King J. Richter’s grandfather, Jacob, founded the Richter Bottling Company in 1895, which later became the Fresno’s Pepsi Cola Bottling Company. And though he moved to Beverly Hills, he has continued to invest in Valley, faith-based initiatives.
The King J. Richter estate made another historic donation of $21.9 million earlier this year to Fresno Pacific University for student scholarships. This was the largest gift in the university’s history.
His brother, Elmer “Bud” Richter, was a longtime support of Fresno State and involved in numerous philanthropic organizations.
This story was originally published December 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version said this story said name of King J. Richter’s grandfather was Richard. It was actually Jacob.
