Prime Highlights-
- Phil and Penny Knight are donating $1.1 billion to Providence healthcare facilities in Oregon.
- The donation will help create Oregon’s first hospital focused entirely on women’s health.
Key Facts-
- Phil Knight co-founded Nike with track coach Bill Bowerman in 1964.
- The funding will support women’s healthcare and cardiovascular services across Providence hospitals in Oregon.
Background-
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny Knight, will donate $1.1 billion to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Providence Heart Institute in Oregon. The donation will support women’s healthcare and cardiovascular services and ranks among the largest gifts made to a U.S. healthcare institution, according to Providence.
A major part of the donation will fund Oregon’s first hospital dedicated to women’s health. The facility will be built at the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center campus in Portland and will offer care across gynecology, pregnancy, labor and delivery, menopause and cardiology. It will also include an upgraded neonatal intensive care unit.
The donation will also strengthen cardiovascular care across Providence’s eight hospitals in Oregon. Funding will support physician recruitment, medical technology, clinical trials and personalized treatment. The Knights have already contributed $200 million to the Providence Heart Institute over the past decade.
Providence said the family’s earlier support helped establish a heart transplant program and provided resources for medical research and physician development. The latest contribution is expected to build on those efforts and expand specialized cardiac services.
The gift follows another major donation from the Knights. In August last year, the couple gave $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. Their latest contribution further adds to their long record of philanthropy in Oregon.
Phil Knight co-founded Nike with Bill Bowerman in 1964, when the company operated as Blue Ribbon Sports. He later led the sportswear company for decades before retiring as chairman in 2016. The couple has donated billions of dollars to charitable causes over the years, supporting healthcare, education and other initiatives.
