Phil Knight Set to Donate $1.1 Billion for Oregon Women's Hospital.
Phil and Penny Knight will give $1.1 billion to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and its Providence Heart Institute, the medical center announced Tuesday. The gift will create Oregon's first hospital dedicated to women's health.
- $200 million-plus previously given by the Knights to Providence over the past decade.
- New hospital will cover gynecology, pregnancy, labor and delivery, menopause, and cardiology.
- $9 billion-plus in total charitable giving from the Knights over two decades.
- Forbes estimates the couple's net worth at about $25 billion.
Why it matters: U.S. hospitals are treating more pregnant patients managing chronic conditions while government funding cuts strain budgets. Philanthropy is filling a larger share of the gap.
- Dan Oseran, the Heart Institute's executive medical director, said the gift enables work the hospital could not otherwise pursue.
- Historian Benjamin Soskis called hospitals among the few institutions able to reliably absorb large donations at scale.
How 5 sources split on this story
Center coverage, 3 sources: The center covers the donation primarily as a historic philanthropic milestone, detailing its scale, the Knights' broader giving record, and the specific medical programs it will fund.
Left coverage, 1 sources: The left frames the gift against a backdrop of government funding cuts, presenting private philanthropy as a patch for a strained public health system.
What’s next: The women's hospital will be built on the Providence St. Vincent campus in Portland.
- Funding will also recruit physicians, support clinical trials, and drive technological innovation at Providence hospitals.
- No timeline for the women's hospital's construction or opening has been announced publicly.
- How the gift is structured — direct donation, pledge, or phased commitment — has not been detailed in available reporting.