LIHU‘E — Island health care received a multi-million dollar shot in the arm on Friday.
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced it will grant more than $10.6 million to Wilcox Medical Center in Lihu‘e to expand and develop its imaging programs and capabilities. The charitable trust made the announcement during a press conference at the medical center.
The grant is the largest gift ever made to the medical center.
“The Helmsley Charitable Trust is thrilled to welcome Hawai‘i to our Rural Healthcare Program,” said Walter Panzirer, a trustee for the charitable trust, who made the announcement.
“This grant — the first of what we expect to be many across the islands — will provide Kaua‘i residents with top-notch diagnostic care closer to home so they don’t have to travel off-island for crucial scans and tests.”
The press conference on Friday was attended by a number of local and state dignitaries, including Kaua‘i Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami, Hawai‘i Governor Josh Green, as well as President and CEO of Wilcox Medical Center Jen Chahanovich and President and CEO of Hawai‘i Pacific Health Ray Vara.
The Kaua‘i County Council was also present along with top doctors and staff from the medical center.
The money will be used by the medical center to purchase a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and renovate its existing MRI treatment space, enhance care for orthopedics, neurology and cardiology while expanding care for oncology. It will also upgrade its existing X-ray room to create an interventional radiology suite, which will allow specialists to look inside a patient’s body, make a diagnosis, and then immediately treat the issue.
The money will also be used to create two residency sleep rooms for students of the Family Medicine Residency Program through the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM).
Green said he’s honored that the charitable trust chose to invest in the Aloha State and its residents.
“The generosity of the Helmsley Foundation is incredible and this will save lives for the residents of Kaua‘i,” he said.
“Having advanced technology like this new MRI, having the ability to keep some of our doctors here on the island means they don’t have to travel at great peril, and as a physician governor I place the highest priority on people being able to get care where they live and this enhances that.”
Chahanovich said the medical center is extremely grateful for the generous support.
“This funding will enhance our medical teams’ ability to discover an injury or illness, or to perform a lifesaving procedure, every day on Kaua‘i,” Chahanovich said.
“Wilcox is committed to staying at the forefront of medicine. This incredible investment enables us to recruit the best physicians to Kaua‘i and provide cutting-edge care to generations of families for years to come.”
