In 1997, Galen suffered complications after heart surgery to replace a valve and was in a coma for 42 days; after he recovered he decided that he wanted to give away most of his money. Later that year, Galen and his wife donated $1.25 million to USC to establish a student-athlete dining and social activity hall. In 2000 he donated an additional $300,000 for a ceramics studio in the USC School of Fine Arts; he also endowed the Helene V. Galen Intermedia Lab.