Providence Heart Institute Receives $75 Million Gift From Phil And Penny Knight; Announces Plans For Heart Transplant Program

PORTLAND, Ore., March 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Providence Heart Institute – the highest volume and most comprehensive heart program between Seattle and San Francisco – has received a $75 million gift from Phil and Penny Knight to support continued growth and innovation in cardiac services, including the development of a heart transplant program at Providence.

Phil and Penny Knight donate $75 million to Providence Heart Institute

The $75 million gift from Phil and Penny Knight to Providence Heart Institute is one of the largest gifts ever made to a community hospital. This donation builds on $25 million given by the Knights in 2014, which was matched by other generous donors to complete a $50 million campaign.

The transformational gifts from the Knights, along with thousands of other donors further accelerate ongoing advancements and world-class care at Providence Heart Institute. Through their generosity over the past five years, the institute has focused on three centers of activity to support health and innovation: clinical care, prevention and wellness, and research and innovation.

"We are proud of our physicians and caregivers whose unwavering commitment has led to our recognition as a premier cardiac center," said Dr. Dan Oseran, executive medical director, Providence Heart Institute. "We are honored by the gifts from Phil and Penny Knight and our many donors whose belief in Providence Heart Institute helps us build on our long tradition of excellence. We are deeply grateful for our patients who choose Providence to serve them. Their courage motivates and inspires us."

Providence Heart Institute will begin heart transplant program

"For the past five months Providence Heart Institute has been providing critically needed services for nearly 400 additional patients who had previously received a heart transplant or an implanted left ventricular assist device and received care at OHSU," said Dr. Oseran. "It's clear that our state needs an established, comprehensive and stable set of services for these vulnerable patients."

"This is not about prestige or competition or money," said Lisa Vance, chief executive for Providence Health & Services in Oregon. "It's about vulnerable people and families who need quality care close to home. We feel that we are in a unique position to deliver that care."

"Given we have nearly all the required infrastructure already, we anticipate starting a heart transplant program here at Providence within a year," said Dr. Oseran. Additional needs would include formal certification of the program and recruitment of a transplant surgeon.

"Providence Heart Institute is considered one of the best cardiac programs on the West Coast and we have been able to consistently recruit outstanding physicians from the top programs in the country to join us," said Dr. Oseran. "The generous support we have received from our community has helped foster a dynamic culture of innovation with the patient at the center of everything we do."

Providence Heart Institute

Providence Heart Institute comprises more than 80 highly-skilled physicians and surgeons. Each year at the Institute, more than 15,000 patients benefit from world-class care that includes the latest advances in diagnosis, treatment and cardiac surgery. Through clinical research trials, patients here also have access to many new therapies before they become widely available. And our wellness and prevention programs help prevent heart disease and empower patients to become their healthiest selves. Visit providenceoregon.org/heart.

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SOURCE Providence Health & Services