Philanthropist Virgil Elings donated $4 million to the new Cancer Center of Santa Barbara to open in the fall at 540 W. Pueblo St.

The $53 million cancer center, which merged with Sansum Clinic in 2012, will be renamed the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center to honor Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree’s $10.73 million donation. The Elings Oncology Building at the cancer center will combine the three oncology departments on Pueblo Street to better coordinate care, provide the latest technologies and increase capacity, Sansum said in a news release.

“Patients in our community are so fortunate to be the beneficiaries of Virgil’s generosity,” Dr. Kurt Ransohoff, CEO and chief medical officer of Sansum Clinic, said in a news release. “We are building the finest regional cancer center in the nation and funding from philanthropists like Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree and Virgil Elings helps to ensure we have the resources to deliver on our mission of providing superior, personalized care to all members of our community.”

“It’s really an honor to provide a lasting legacy of exceptional medical care to patients in our community,” Elings said.

The campaign for the new 55,000-square-foot cancer center has exceeded its $38 million fundraising goal with gifts from 270 donors totaling more than $38.5 million.

The current cancer center helped nearly 12,000 patients over almost 70,000 visits in 2015, according to Sansum.

• Contact Alex Kacik at akacik@pacbiztimes.com.