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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A recently released study demonstrates the ECHO Model is an effective intervention for improving diabetes care in rural settings. The study examined whether rural health care providers, who participated in weekly ECHO telementoring sessions, could help people with diabetes achieve similar outcomes as patients seen by endocrinology specialists working in an academic medical center. The study found…

After expanding our Rural Healthcare Program into two U.S. Pacific Territories, we added Hawaii as our ninth state. As our first grant in Hawaii, we granted $10.6 million to Wilcox Medical Center on Kauai for state-of-the-art diagnostic and radiology equipment. “The Helmsley Charitable Trust is thrilled to welcome Hawaii to our Rural Healthcare Program,” Helmsley Trustee Walter Panzirer said. “This…

For the millions of people uprooted by crisis or conflict, finding adequate health care can be nearly impossible. Displaced populations often face already overwhelmed health systems — and the strain on resources makes it harder for people to access necessary care.  This is especially dangerous for people living with chronic noncommunicable diseases like type 1 diabetes (T1D), who face immediate…

NEW YORK, August 15, 2024 – In a recent innovation for Crohn’s disease treatment, researchers from the Stenosis Therapy and Anti-Fibrotic Research (STAR) consortium have developed reliable methods to measure intestinal strictures using both MRI and CT imaging. This advancement, published in Radiology, marks a significant step toward effective medical therapies for Crohn’s disease-related intestinal strictures.  

LIHUE, August 2, 2024 – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has added Hawaii as the ninth state in its Rural Healthcare Program, announcing a $10.6 million grant to provide Wilcox Medical Center in Kauai with state-of-the-art diagnostic and radiology equipment. Walter Panzirer, a Trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said the funding will help Wilcox Medical…

SAIPAN, July 8, 2024 – Residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) will gain access to life-saving diagnostic technology thanks to more than $6.4 million in grant funding from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust that will provide the islands’ first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Helmsley’s grant will allow the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation…

AMERICAN SAMOA, June 27, 2024 – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced today $3.2 million in grants to provide an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, portable X-ray capabilities, and portable ultrasound equipment to Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center (LBJTMC) and American Samoa Community Health Centers (ASCHC) in American Samoa, a remote United States territory in…

NEW YORK, June 26, 2024 — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced today a $1.4 million grant, with a matching component, to support the growth of the Kyler Cares Foundation. Kyler Cares is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health outcomes for underserved youth living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) by sharing educational resources, increasing access to…

NEW YORK, June 25, 2024 — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced today a $5 million grant to World Bank’s Health System Transformation and Resilience Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), becoming the first philanthropy to contribute to the newly established technical assistance mechanism. Over three years, the MDTF will accelerate countries’ efforts to transform primary health care…

This year, the American Heart Association (AHA) celebrates its 100th birthday. As part of their reflection on these 100 years, they highlighted their longstanding relationship with Helmsley. Since 2010, Helmsley has invested over $83 million to support a variety of AHA initiatives, especially those focused on rural America. One such initiative is Mission: Lifeline – a national initiative that aims…

In honor of World Oceans Day, CBS highlighted The Ocean Cleanup’s mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, cleaning an area the size of a football field every five seconds. Plastic in our oceans is an “ecological time bomb,” Matthias Egger of The Ocean Cleanup explained; the materials degrade and become microplastics that harm marine and human health. “We…

HONOLULU, June 8, 2024 — In celebration of World Oceans Day, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and global non-profit project The Ocean Cleanup are accelerating the scale-up of ocean cleaning efforts. A $15 million grant from Helmsley will support the cleanup of plastic pollution in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, reducing the negative effects of plastic debris,…

Inside Philanthropy recently sat down with Helmsley Trustee Walter Panzirer to discuss the origin of our ECMO initiative and current cardiac portfolio. The article details how our ECMO initiative began when Helmsley Trustee Walter Panzirer met with Dr. Demetris Yannopoulos, the visionary behind the first ECPR program in the United States, bringing ECMO to cardiac arrest patients. Since then, we’ve…

BILLINGS, April 25, 2024 — In states like Montana and Wyoming, where the distance between hospitals in rural communities and trauma centers can stretch hundreds of miles, the ability to deliver and coordinate complex care as quickly and effectively as possible closer to home can make all the difference. The critical time it takes to get a sick or injured person…

LAS VEGAS, April 23, 2024 — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is granting $11.6 million to three Nevada health systems to expand access to life-saving care for patients suffering from acute cardiac and pulmonary failure.