Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donates $75 million to San Francisco hospital

Donation could be biggest amount given by an individual to a public hospital

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are reportedly donating $75 million to a San Francisco Hospital (AP)

Never one to do things by halves, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are reportedly donating $75 million to a San Francisco hospital – believed to be the largest sum given to a public hospital by an individual.

The Facebook founder and CEO is donating the money to the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation to help fund critical equipment and technology for the public hospital’s new emergency room.

In an announcement made on Facebook (of course), Zuckerberg said: “We believe everyone deserves access to high quality health care. The General is the main public hospital in San Francisco, and it is an important safety net for our community.

"More than 70 per cent of the families it serves are uninsured or underinsured. It is open to anyone who lives, works in or visits the city.”

He said Chan had completed her medical residency at the facility as a paediatrician, an experience that had "deepened our commitment to help these families".

Zuckerberg even managed to reference Facebook in his message, adding: “We are so fortunate that our work in connecting the world through Facebook has given us the ability to give back to our local community, our country and the world -- and to work to improve education, health care and internet access for everyone.”

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee described the donation as “incredibly gracious”.

“They have made sure, in the future, there will be enough money to maintain and modernise it,” he told SF Gate. ”They want a public hospital as important as this to be at world-class standards every year.”

“This precedent-setting grant is a key piece necessary to the completion and opening of the new building in December,” Amanda Heier, the foundation’s chief executive officer added.