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The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is expanding its scope of support and making its first gift in Hawaii. The Helmsley Charitable Trust will grant more than $10.6 million to help Wilcox Medical Center expand and develop its imaging programs and capabilities so patients can benefit from additional state-of-the-art technology on Kauai.
The Helmsley Charitable Trust is looking forward to building relationships in the state of Hawaii that serve its vision to build better futures for people by increasing access to health care, advancing new research and ideas, and improving the quality of everyday life. Hawaii is now the ninth state where organizations will receive financial support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. This gift to Wilcox is part of its ongoing efforts to improve rural health care.
Walter Panzirer, a Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said the grant will help improve access to quality medical treatment for all Kauai residents as well as visitors in Lihue and across the island’s rural communities.
“Wilcox Medical Center recognizes the value in having the most advanced technology to allow its medical teams to continue to provide top-notch health care on the island, close to home,” Panzirer said. “This grant helps ensure that Kauai’s primary hospital has the latest and greatest equipment and training opportunities to serve patients.”
Advanced imaging is an integral part of comprehensive care, providing data to detect, diagnose, treat and monitor a variety of diseases and health problems. In a news conference, the Helmsley Charitable Trust announced how its $10.6 million grant to Wilcox will impact care by funding the following projects:
- Purchase of a new MRI machine and renovations to the existing MRI treatment space.
- Upgrades to the existing X-ray room to create an interventional radiology suite that will be the first of its kind on Kauai.
- Renovations and equipment replacement for an X-ray/fluoroscopy exam room.
- Creation of two residency sleep rooms to support the Family Medicine Residency Program on Kauai, which begins in 2026.
The new MRI machine will enhance care for orthopedics, neurology and cardiology at Wilcox and expand care for oncology, especially in screening for breast cancer in high-risk patients. The new machine will allow MRI-guided breast biopsies and increase the medical center’s ability to perform prostate, breast and cardiac exams.
The new interventional radiology suite will introduce state-of-the-art medical care to Kauai. The suite is one location that will combine sophisticated imaging capabilities with a procedure room. Interventional radiology suites give specialists the ability to look inside a patient’s body, make a diagnosis and then immediately treat the issue.
The new fluoroscopy exam room offers better imaging quality for procedures that help to expand specialty care. A fluoroscopy procedure takes multiple images to create a real-time video of how a patient’s body is functioning. Physicians can also use fluoroscopy imaging as a guide for needles and catheters.
“We are extremely grateful for this grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. This funding will enhance our medical teams’ ability to diagnose an injury or illness, or to perform a lifesaving procedure, every day on Kauai,” said Jen Chahanovich, president and CEO of Wilcox Medical Center and CEO of Kauai Medical Clinic. “Wilcox is committed to staying at the forefront of medicine. This incredible investment for our community enables us to provide cutting-edge care to generations of Kauai families for years to come.”
This grant will also support the next generation of doctors on Kauai by funding two sleep rooms at the medical center for family medicine residents. Wilcox, in partnership with the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, has developed a permanent Family Medicine Residency Program on Kauai and is taking an active role in the state’s efforts to address the physician shortage across the islands. Through the Kauai Rural Training Program, cohorts of second- through fourth-year family medicine residents will train on Kauai, strengthening their relationships with medical teams on the island and deepening their connections with the community.
In addition, the new imaging purchases and upgrades through the Helmsley Charitable Trust grant are another incentive for new physicians who are willing to build a career for themselves in rural health areas like Kauai.
“This is a truly remarkable gift from the Helmsley Charitable Trust that will support Wilcox Medical Center in continuing to provide high-quality, state-of-the-art medical care for the Kauai community,” said Ray Vara, president & CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health. “Our mission at Hawaii Pacific Health is to create a healthier Hawaii, and this gift also supports our mission by helping to increase access to the latest health care technology and strengthening our health care workforce. We are fortunate to have partners like HCT working together with us to make a positive and lasting impact on the health and well-being of our communities.”
“Building a pipeline of committed physicians and health care professionals to our rural communities is essential to providing access to care for all, not just some,” said Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, M.D. “Helmsley Charitable Trust’s first generous gift in Hawaii will help ensure that people on Kauai receive the quality care we need across our state.”
Photo (above): Walter Panzirer (with lei), Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust trustee; Jen Chahanovich (fourth from right), Wilcox Medical Center president & CEO, and CEO of Kauai Medical Clinic; with other members of the Wilcox team.
Photo (top): (from left to right) Noelle Lau, Wilcox Health Foundation development officer; Derek Kawakami, Kauai County mayor; Ray Vara, Hawaii Pacific Health president & CEO; Jen Chahanovich, Wilcox Medical Center president & CEO, and CEO of Kauai Medical Clinic; Walter Panzirer, Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust trustee; Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.
About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $4.5 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to 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. To date, this program has awarded more than $700 million to organizations and initiatives in the states of Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and two U.S. Pacific territories. For more information, visit HelmsleyTrust.org.
About Wilcox Medical Center
A not-for-profit medical center founded in 1938, Wilcox Medical Center is the largest medical center on Kauai with a full suite of services offering 30 specialties and programs, including cardiology, emergency, family practice, gastroenterology, health management, internal medicine, neurology, OB-GYN, oncology, orthopedics, pediatrics and urology. Its 18-bed Emergency Department serves as the island’s Primary Stroke Center, and its state-of-the-art acute care facility has four birthing suites, seven intensive care beds and 20 same-day surgery beds. Wilcox is the first American College of Surgeons-verified Level III Trauma Center in the state of Hawaii.
Wilcox is part of Hawaii Pacific Health, one of the state’s leading health care systems and a not-for-profit health care organization with medical centers, clinics, physicians and other caregivers working together to create a healthier Hawai‘i. Learn more at WilcoxHealth.org.