Hawaii hospitals are getting a significant boost in funding, thanks to a $150 million donation by longstanding philanthropists Marc and Lynne Benioff.
The gift — considered one of the largest, single private donations in Hawaii’s history — will connect Hawaii Pacific Health with Hilo Medical Center and UCSF Health. It resulted from more than a year of collaboration between the three entities.
“If you want to have impact, it is important to have focus — and the biggest focus in our philanthropy has been public health because it’s where we feel we can have the biggest impact,” said Marc Benioff, Salesforce chair and CEO, in a statement. “But we’ve always been committed to supporting a strong safety net in Hawaii in many areas and have invested heavily in schools, public parks, affordable housing, health care and first responders.”
With this gift, the Benioffs will have donated $600 million out of more than $1 billion in philanthropic giving to health care organizations across the U.S., including Hawaii and San Francisco.
A total of $100 million will go to Hawaii Pacific Health to support its redevelopment of Straub Medical Center in Honolulu into the “health care campus of the future.”
The first phase of the project, which is already under construction, will include a state-of-the-art conference center, rooftop garden, employee fitness center, and 1,600 parking stalls.
It remains on schedule, and is slated for completion in 2026, according to Ray Vara, president and CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health.
“We are truly grateful for this extremely generous and transformational gift,” said Vara in a statement. “The Benioffs share our vision and commitment to ensuring access to high-quality care for our community, and we are excited to work with them and our health care partners to expand our efforts.”
A total of $50 million will go to Hilo Medical Center to help build the hospital’s intensive care unit and establish a state-of-the-art family birthing center, neurosurgical program and behavioral health services.
Hilo Medical Center recently received a $50 million appropriation from the state for its long-awaited expansion project to address overcapacity. To this day, the hospital continues to struggle with an overflow of patients in an aging facility.
The center, the island’s largest hospital run by the state’s Hawaii Health Systems Corp., plans to build a new wing offering 19 more ICU beds and 36 additional patient beds.
HMC expects to break ground on the first phase of the expansion in April, according to Dan Brinkman, CEO of Hilo Medical Center.
“We’re very excited about this,” said Brinkman. “We’re really counting our blessings here, and we have a whole lot of work to do.”
The funding will also support a modern, 12-bed family birthing center at the hospital, and fill a gap in the center’s neurosurgical services. It will also support the center’s physician recruitment program, an ongoing challenge for Hawaii island.
“We will be collaborating together to help with physician recruitment,” he said. “What we want to do is work with Hawaii Pacific Health and hopefully co-recruit physicians and have them potentially work and live here on the island.”
The Hilo Medical Center will be renamed the Hilo Benioff Medical Center and Straub Medical Center in Honolulu will become the Straub Benioff Medical Center in recognition of the couple’s longstanding partnership and significant contributions.
The gift brings the Benioffs’ total philanthropy in Hawaii to more than $250 million, which includes a recent gift of 282 acres to a Hilo-based nonprofit for affordable housing.
The Benioffs have also funded state-of-the-art medical helicopters and fire trucks, made previous contributions to Hilo Medical Center, and supported the Hawaii Island Community Health Center and Kona Hospital Foundation, among others.
Fire safety has long been a priority for the Benioffs, years before the Lahaina fires in August.
Since 2017, they have partnered with the Sayre Foundation to donate a dozen fire trucks, including tankers, and to help bring a rescue boat and two state-of-the-art medical helicopters to Hawaii.
“Our islands have lost so much to fire,” said Benioff. “We all have to do more to support and protect our first responders, who do so much to help keep us safe in Hawaii.”
Additionally, they recently contributed $5 million to Gov. Josh Green’s Hawaii Healthcare Education Loan Repayment Program — or HELP – which alleviates the educational debt of medical and health care professionals.
“Before becoming governor I worked as an ER doctor in these hospitals, so I know what it means to have a true benefactor step up and rescue services,” said Gov. Green in a statement. “This huge donation will support the care for thousands of critically ill people in Hawaii. This generosity is a game-changer for our state.”
With the latest contribution, San Francisco-based UCSF Health, which runs UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, will expand its efforts to support Hawaii patients in need of specialist care.
UCSF will extend its clinical expertise across the Pacific, and bring specialized care in oncology and neurology to more residents across the state.
Benioff said he’s not done giving to Hawaii, which he has considered home since 1974.
“Lynne and I are excited to become more public givers to inspire others to give back to and support this beautiful community and to cultivate a more robust culture of philanthropy in Hawaii,” he said in a statement. “With this gift we’re more than doubling our total giving in Hawaii – and we’ll keep going.”
“Investing in Hawaii is a major focus for us and we will continue to support critical needs like public health, affordable housing, education and the environment,” he continued. “This gift is a north star for us that sets our direction for future giving and hopefully inspires others to give as well.”
I am so grateful for the Benioffs’ donations, in this case to two of our medical care centers. I’m a very healthy older man, not in any foreseeable need to improved services, but I know how much this is needed here, and how this will truly be lifesaving to so many of our residents through better and broader quality of care.