Office of the Governor – News Release – Gov. Green Welcomes $10M Helmsley Gift to Expand Critical Cancer Care on O‘ahu

STATE OF HAWAIʻI 
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI 
 
JOSH GREEN, M.D. 
GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA 

GOVERNOR GREEN WELCOMES $10M HELMSLEY GIFT TO EXPAND CRITICAL CANCER CARE ON OʻAHU

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2025

HONOLULU — Governor Josh Green, M.D., today highlighted the importance of the philanthropic community to Hawaiʻi’s healthcare industry, in welcoming $10M in grants from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, to two Oʻahu hospitals.

The grants will expand access to critical cancer care at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children and at The Queen’s Medical Center–West O‘ahu Cancer Center.

“We are so grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for its generous grants of $5 million to each of these hospitals, which is key to ensuring that our state’s residents have access to the highest quality cancer care,” said Governor Green. “We cannot overstate the magnitude of such gracious support from the philanthropic community for healthcare, especially in specialty fields and for rural or remote communities. Mahalo to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for its continuing investment in Hawai‘i and its people.”

The Helmsley Trust’s $5 million grant to Kapiʻolani Medical Center will help to build the Martha B. Smith Cancer & Infusion Center, offering life-saving and specialized treatments for women and children diagnosed with cancer.

In Oʻahu’s rapidly growing West O‘ahu region, Helmsley’s $5 million grant will fund a 2,500-square-foot expansion of the cancer center at Queen’s West that will add three infusion bays and six exam rooms and allow the hospital to accommodate 20 percent more patients.

“O‘ahu residents facing cancer diagnoses should be able to access top-notch cancer care close to home, where family and friends can provide much-needed support,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “These expansions will ensure patients can get the care they need in a timely manner.”

The phased reconfiguration of The Queen’s Medical Center–West O‘ahu Cancer Center will relocate and expand infusion services and modernize the medical oncology clinic, reducing wait times while accommodating a growing number of patients.

“We are extremely grateful to the Helmsley Charitable Trust for this very generous gift, and for their commitment to supporting high quality health care for the people of Hawai‘i,” said Queen’s Health Systems President and Chief Executive Officer Jason Chang. “This expansion of cancer services at our West O‘ahu hospital will allow us the ability to better serve residents living in those communities so they are able to receive care closer to home.”

At 25,000-square-feet, the new Martha B. Smith Cancer & Infusion Center will be five times larger than the current space at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children. The center will double the number of infusion bays for women and pediatric patients, and expand research space for clinical trials and cutting-edge therapies. Kapi‘olani is the state’s dedicated site for bone marrow collection and transplants for children, and it’s the only women’s cancer facility in Hawai‘i that specializes in treating breast and gynecologic oncology patients.

“We are incredibly thankful for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s gift to Kapi‘olani in helping to provide state-of-the-art cancer care for years to come,” said Gidget Ruscetta, Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children chief operating officer. “This funding will allow Kapi‘olani to best serve the cancer needs of women and children across Hawai‘i by further elevating how we deliver specialized care, as well as expanding innovative treatments and research.”

As part of Helmsley’s goal of reducing disparities between rural and urban Americans in their access to healthcare, its Rural Healthcare program has invested $88 million in cancer care since 2009. In addition to funding new and existing cancer care facilities, Helmsley champions novel models that leverage telehealth, affiliations, partnerships, and outreach clinics to ensure that people can have access to quality healthcare, no matter where they live.

Today’s grant announcement in Hawai‘i builds on a previous grant of $10.6 million to the Wilcox Medical Center on Kaua‘i in August 2024, funding state-of-the-art diagnostic and radiology equipment to ensure communities on Kaua‘i have access to high-quality care.

Photos from today’s event, courtesy Office of the Governor, will be available here.

Video from today’s event can be found here.

Additional information including photos and b-roll video can be downloaded from https://helmsleytrust.box.com/s/svzc804vfhdr804pnynhslip6q6jgbyp

About the 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 $750 million to organizations and initiatives in the states of Hawai‘i, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and two U.S. Pacific territories, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For more information, visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

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Media contacts:
Erika Engle
Press Secretary
Office of the Governor, State of Hawai‘i
Office: 808-586-0120
[email protected]

Makana McClellan
Director of Communications
Office of the Governor, State of Hawaiʻi
Cell: 808-265-0083
[email protected]

Dirk Lammers
Helmsley Charitable Trust
605-254-3472
[email protected]

Michelle Tsai
Helmsley Charitable Trust
347-978-3583
[email protected]

Liz Chun Uyehara
Kapi‘olani Health Foundation
808-295-5245
[email protected]

Minna Sugimoto
The Queen’s Health Systems
808-691-4105
[email protected]