Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, and his wife Penny announced a $1.1 billion donation to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Oregon and its Providence Heart Institute, according to a statement released Tuesday. The contribution ranks among the largest gifts ever made to a healthcare institution in the United States. This latest pledge follows a previous $2 billion donation the couple made to Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute roughly one year prior.
The funds will support the development of Oregon’s first hospital dedicated exclusively to women’s health services and expand cardiovascular care capabilities across Providence’s network of eight hospitals throughout the state. The new women’s hospital, to be built on the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center campus in Portland, will feature a modernized neonatal intensive care unit and provide comprehensive services spanning gynecology, pregnancy, labor and delivery, menopause care, and cardiology. The donation will also enable recruitment of leading physicians, support technological innovation, fund clinical trials, and advance personalized patient care approaches.
Providence leadership characterized the gift as transformational for healthcare in the Pacific Northwest region. According to medical leadership at the Providence Heart Institute, previous Knight family contributions over the past decade totaling $200 million enabled the establishment of a successful heart transplant program and created research and administrative opportunities that attracted top medical talent to the organization.
Knight and his wife have become recognized figures in philanthropic circles, having appeared on Time Magazine’s TIME100 Philanthropy 2025 list. According to Forbes estimates, the couple had previously donated approximately $4.5 billion to charitable causes before this announcement. Knight built his wealth through Nike, which he co-founded in 1964 with his former track coach Bill Bowerman under the original name Blue Ribbon Sports, eventually transforming it into a global athletic apparel leader before his retirement as chair in 2016.
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