Headquartered in New York City with its rural office based in South Dakota, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has invested millions toward health care and environmental initiatives in Hawaiʻi.
The global philanthropic organization’s first grant to the Islands was made August 2024 through its Rural Healthcare program for $10.6 million to Hawai’i Pacific Health’s Wilcox Medical Center on Kaua’i.
Earlier this year, the trust donated $10 million in total to expand access to critical cancer care at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children and The Queen’s Medical Center – West O‘ahu Cancer Center; $5.8 million to expand stroke care; and $1.6 million to expand the Queen’s Medical Center’s Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation program, to help patients with severe lung or heart issues.
In July, it also awarded grants to Sustainable Coastlines Hawai‘i and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project to fight plastic pollution.
So far, the combined total is more than $30 million in grant funding across the Islands — and counting.
The University of Hawaiʻi announced this week that it received two grants from the Helmsley Charitable Trust in a sum of more than $1.53 million for “projects aim to improve access, quality and coordination of care in some of the most medically underserved areas in the country and Pacific Islands.”
“The Helmsley Charitable Trust is committed to ensuring that people in rural and remote communities can access the care they need and deserve,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, in a statement. “These grants reflect that commitment by supporting the University of Hawai‘i's efforts to conduct rigorous, community-informed research that leads to practical, culturally responsive solutions.”
UH officials said that the first grant of $1.15 million “will support a two-year, in-depth health policy and health care delivery system assessment in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”
The project will be spearheaded by the university’s Center for Pacific Islands Studies, Rural Health Research and Policy Center (RHRPC) and Pacific Cancer Programs at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, which will work closely with health leaders and community stakeholders “to map systemic gaps, develop culturally relevant solutions, and produce technical reports and policy briefs for action at the local, national and philanthropic levels.”
The goal of the project is to strengthen emergency medical services and inter-island transport, improving cancer care, telehealth and workforce development, according to UH.
The second grant of $383,844 over two years will focus on policy changes affecting health in the areas of cardiac care, telehealth, cancer care and emergency medical services, among others.
“It will enable RHRPC to examine the state’s health care and emergency response systems, particularly in underserved communities across the Islands, and identify barriers to optimal health and health care,” UH noted. “The team will engage key stakeholders through site visits and compile policy options to address identified barriers at multiple levels, including federal, state, local, community and philanthropy.”
Aimee Grace, RHRPC principal investigator and UH strategic health initiatives director, said in a statement, "This generous grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust represents a pivotal opportunity to focus on the policy drivers of health across our state. By focusing on the unique challenges faced by Hawaiʻi's rural populations, we aim to develop targeted and impactful policy recommendations that will ultimately strengthen the health and well-being of all Hawaiʻi residents."
The Helmsley Charitable Trust began grantmaking in 2008 and has committed more than $4.5 billion across the globe.
To date, Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program has awarded more than $750 million across nine states for initiatives that "connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel," its website notes.
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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
