The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has awarded Hawaii a $10.6 million grant to provide Wilcox Medical Center with state-of-the-art diagnostic and radiology equipment.

“This funding will enhance our medical teams’ ability to discover an injury or illness, or to perform a lifesaving procedure, every day on Kauai,” said Wilcox president and CEO Jen Chahanovich. “Wilcox is committed to staying at the forefront of medicine. This incredible investment enables us to recruit the best physicians to Kauai and provide cutting-edge care to generations of families for years to come.” 

The funding comes via the trust’s Rural Healthcare Program, which make investments in health care infrastructure in rural communities.

“The Helmsley Charitable Trust is thrilled to welcome Hawaii to our Rural Healthcare Program,” said trustee Walter Panzirer said. “This grant—the first of what we expect to be many across the islands—will provide Kauai residents with top-notch diagnostic care closer to home so they don’t have to travel off-island for crucial scans and tests.”

Specifically, the funding will allow Wilcox to:

• Purchase a new magnetic resonance imaging machine and renovate its existing MRI treatment space, enhancing care for orthopedics, neurology and cardiology while expanding care for oncology.
• 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, then immediately treat the issue.
• Renovate its X-ray/fluoroscopy exam room and replace existing equipment, expanding the center’s ability to assess how a patient’s body is functioning or use the imaging as a guide for needles, stents and catheters.
• Create two residency sleep rooms for students of the Family Medicine Residency Program through the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine.

“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,” said Gov. Josh Green. “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.”

From left: Noelle Lau, Wilcox Health Foundation development officer; Derek Kawakami, Kaua‘i County mayor; Ray Vara, Hawai‘i Pacific Health president & CEO; Jen Chahanovich, Wilcox Medical Center president & CEO, and CEO of Kaua‘i Medical Clinic; Walter Panzirer, Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust trustee; Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green. (Courtesy Wilcox Medical Center)

In June, the trust awarded $3.2 million in grants to provide an MRI machine and other equipment to facilities in American Samoa. In July, Helmsley granted more than $6.4 million to provide residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with the territory’s first MRI machine.

Panzirer said islands throughout the Pacific region share an interdependency when it comes to healthcare, so when one provider upgrades its equipment and services, all of the islands’ residents benefit.

“That’s why the Helmsley Charitable Trust is so focused on expanding our support of the Pacific islands,” he said. “By providing better care closer to home, we’re ensuring better outcomes throughout the region.”