Improving Access to Quality Healthcare in the Upper Midwest and Beyond
For over fifteen years, Helmsley has been dedicated to making sure that the vibrant, tightly-knit communities of rural America have access to the highest quality healthcare.
We invest in telemedicine, fund programs that increase access to behavioral health services, and support hospitals and first responders to make sure they have the best equipment to treat their patients. We do this by working hand-in-hand with a range of partners across the region – including but not limited to non-profits, health systems, law enforcement agencies, universities, first responders, and public health services.
To date, we have worked closely with partners across nine states – Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming – as well as two U.S. Pacific Territories, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. The models that are proving to be successful in this region hold the promise to transform care in other rural communities across the country.
Telemedicine is an essential solution for addressing our country’s healthcare crisis, especially for rural America. We partner with organizations to make it more accessible for patients, healthcare professionals, and providers.
Our grants have helped develop the first-ever national telehealth certificate program to make sure telehealth care is high quality and consistent.
We bring specialized care to emergency rooms and enable virtual training for healthcare workers on the frontlines of COVID-19 care.
Our investments have helped build a 24/7 telemedicine behavioral health team. We fund training fellowships as well as telehealth.
We support a pilot initiative that uses video conferencing to help law enforcement connect people with mental health professionals during an emergency.
We’ve pledged $13M to help create an adolescent behavioral health center that will serve four states and include a first-of-its-kind behavioral health urgent care.
Our grants aim to provide connected-device Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to every first responder, as well as state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to hospitals across the upper Midwest. We’ve also helped deliver nearly 400 LUCAS mechanical CPR devices to rural hospitals to help respond to cardiac events during COVID-19 as well as in the future.
We brought the first-ever Mobile Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) with a game-changing, super ambulance-mobile ER to the region.
In rural communities, law enforcement officers are often the first, and sometimes the only, people to the scene of a cardiac emergency. We funded 25,000 AEDs across 8 states to allow them to have this life-saving equipment.
Between 21% and 38% of all 911 calls are related to mental health, substance abuse, and crisis situations police are not adequately trained to handle. Virtual Crisis Care equips law enforcement officers with iPads that connect them to counselors, reducing involuntary hospitalizations and jailings in 80% of users.
Youth living in rural areas are at greater risk of suicide than those in urban areas. A $13M grant helped build the Helmsley Behavioral Health Center, which expanded mental health access, especially for adolescents, in South Dakota.
We invested in the world’s first ECMO truck, which brings rare emergency technology and practices beyond the walls of medical institutions. We’ve also granted $8.8M towards telerobotics research, potentially paving the way for remote surgeries across wide distances.
July 15, 2025
June 5, 2025
BILLINGS, MT, June 5 — Billings Clinic held ribbon cutting ceremonies today for the Helmsley Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and the Helmsley Regional Operations Center. The SICU is designed to elevate trauma and complex care for patients across Montana and Wyoming and the operations center will support patients and clinicians across Montana and Wyoming, enhancing communication with rural hospitals,…
June 4, 2025
RIVERTON, WY, June 4 — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has granted $4 million to the Riverton Medical District to fund equipment for a new hospital that will bring locally controlled healthcare services back to the central Wyoming community. The 71,000-square-foot facility, expected to open in late 2026, will restore Level III trauma care to the…
May 15, 2025
HONOLULU, May 15, 2025 – The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has donated $1.6 million to support the expansion of The Queen’s Medical Center & Clarence T.C. Ching ECMO Program (Queen’s). Currently, Queen’s has a program that utilizes ECMO machines as part of the therapy options to help patients whose lungs and/or heart are unable to function…
April 10, 2025
HONOLULU, April 10, 2025 – Cardiovascular disease, including heart and stroke conditions, is the leading cause of death in Hawaiʻi.[1] The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association devoted to changing the future to a world of healthier lives for all, is leading a statewide initiative to strengthen the full spectrum of stroke care across Hawaiʻi with…
April 3, 2025
HONOLULU, April 3, 2025 — 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.
March 20, 2025
NEW YORK, March 20, 2025 – Today, The Trevor Project launched a public awareness campaign to address the public health crisis of suicide among LGBTQ+ young people in rural communities with support from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The campaign launch features a new 10-minute documentary short film that tells the story of a mother and…
$700 M+
committed
694
grants awarded
9
states reached
