Eisenhower Medical Takes Big Hit In Post-Hope Classic Years

Bill Dwyre of the LA Times says there are no bad guys in this saga, but he goes into great depth on the backstory behind the evolution of the Bob Hope Classic to the Humana Challenge to the CareerBuilder something or other.

In the years since Hope's passing and the Clinton Foundation's $1 million annual take, the Eisenhower Medical Center has seen its once sizeable annual donation fall to almost nothing, or nothing.

Dwyre writes:

For a long time, as Hope wanted, the Eisenhower Medical Center was the main financial recipient of the Bob Hope Desert Classic. It stayed that way when it became the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

The hospital can hardly complain too loudly if, indeed, its piece of the pie has dwindled since Humana and the Clinton Foundation came to town. Since Hope put his name on the tournament in 1965, the Eisenhower Medical Center has received $34.7 million from it.

In 2013, it received zero. Last year, it received $225,000. This year's allotment is scheduled for November, with no guarantees.

Foster says that, in the beginning, "Eisenhower was a pleasant little hospital and we were fairly vital." He also says, "We have not been as successful as we want to be in recent years, raising money for the hospital."

The numbers are interesting. Amateur slots for the tournament are down to 156. Foster says the reduction from past amateur revenue is about $1 million. The Clinton Foundation has an annual guarantee of $1 million, confirmed by Foster. The current annual shortfall of the Eisenhower Medical Center from the golf event is $1 million.