Fishing nets. Water bottles. Toys. We all know not to litter, but many of us don’t know that much of the plastic trash from our homes and businesses winds up in the ocean.   Researchers estimate there are more than five trillion pieces of plastic waste in the ocean, and this debris collects in five zones in the ocean. The…

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…

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…

People in rural areas have always wanted water piped to their homes, the same as urban residents. But it has often been assumed that delivering piped water to rural areas would be prohibitively expensive or that people would not be willing to pay for water.

Through my years of involvement in improving rural healthcare, I’ve been aware of the value of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), but a conversation with a physician assistant in rural Glenwood, Minnesota proved how this single imaging tool can save even more lives when used in new ways.   When Tom Pahl began working in rural medicine two decades ago, his practice was…

With the launch of a new certification from the American Heart Association, stroke patients will have access to faster, more effective recovery in skilled nursing facilities. The story of Helmsley’s work with the Association to develop this certification shows how much progress can be made when industry and philanthropy join forces.

In recent years, infectious diseases like West Nile, Zika, and Covid-19 have dominated global headlines while the ravages of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have quietly persisted.   NTDs, a group of debilitating viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases including river blindness and elephantiasis, affect 1 of every 5 people around the globe. They cause enormous suffering and often life-altering disability, and…

In Ethiopia, the vast majority of the population lives in the rural countryside, and people often undergo long treks on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle in order to reach schools, medical facilities, and markets. During periods of heavy rain, rivers or gorges become impassable and cut communities off from broader networks. Since 2001 Bridges to Prosperity, headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, has…

Helmsley’s $3 million grant to the Billings Clinic in Montana created the state’s first psychiatry residency program. “Your physician to population shortage ratio is extreme in a lot of these upper Midwestern states,” Helmsley Trustee Walter Panzirer said. This grant aims to increase the number of psychiatrists in the state; a previous internal medicine rural residency program resulted in 60%…

Helmsley Trustee Walter Panzirer sat down with Inside Philanthropy to discuss Helmsley’s rural mental health grantmaking portfolio. “We face an all-hands-on-deck moment to address current needs,” Panzirer said, adding that “philanthropy can often act more nimbly than local, state or federal governments, and we are in a fortunate position to help transform care in communities with novel solutions that respond…

Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley trustee, discussed our AED initiative, which aims to put AEDs in every law enforcement officer’s vehicle across eight states.

Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley trustee, penned an op-ed about the mental health crisis is America. In this op-ed, he outlines the disparities between rural and urban access to mental healthcare professionals as well as the initiatives that Helmsley is taking to close the gap. Read his op-ed here.

Walter Panzirer, a Helmsley Trustees, sat with PBS host Amber Renee Dixon for an installment of Nevada Week In Person. Together they discussed Walter’s background, his role in shaping the Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the passions that drive the mission of his work in his role as a Trustee. Watch the full interview at pbs.org.