A high-dollar fundraiser for the so-called health sciences branch of UCSD is heading off to the City of Hope in Duarte to become chief rainmaker there.

Kristin Jean Bertell, who was named associate vice chancellor for Health Sciences Development at UCSD two years ago in October, received gross pay of $247,800 in 2013, according to the University of California's salary website.

Set to report in February as "chief philanthropy officer, Bartell will "provide executive and strategic oversight for all aspects of City of Hopes philanthropic efforts, as the cancer treatment center and biomedical research institution enters a new era of growth and development," according to the nonprofit's announcement of the move.

A year before being named associate vice chancellor, Bertell became "executive director of development for principal gifts" for UCSD's health sciences operation.

Prior to that the UCLA graduate had variously served as vice president for Institute Relations at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and as a senior vice president of the Greenwood Company in San Francisco, which "is particularly well-known for the development of successful fundraising strategies for health care institutions grappling with the fundraising challenges caused by health systems, tightening institutional budgets, [and] dramatic changes in the delivery of health care and managed care," the firm's website says.

Luring elderly high-rollers into funding flashy medical centers named after themselves has grown into a multibillion-dollar national business, and Bertell is no slacker, credited in the City of Hope's December 15 news release with having been "the primary development lead in securing a landmark $100 million donation" for UCSD's Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center.

The cash came from billionaire T. Denny Sanford, who piled up big money at South Dakota's First Premier bank issuing high-interest credit cards to so-called credit-impaired customers.

"First Premier now has 3 million active cardholders," Forbes reported in 2007. "Its cards are to be avoided if possible they have 10% to 20% interest rates but cost $175 in fees to get a card with a $1,000 limit. The typical customer stays only 18 months before graduating to something better. 'We provide a lifeline for credit-impaired people,' Sanford says."

According to UCSD's website, "His gift to create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center is the second largest donation received by UC San Diego in its 53-year history, following only the $110 million gift by Joan and Irwin Jacobs to endow the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering."

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Official lured big-dollar donor into giving $100 million for flashy stem cell center.