Phil and Penny Knight are cutting another enormous check for Portland heart care, and this one is worth $75 million. The new gift to Providence Heart Institute and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, announced Thursday, is intended to fuel a Knight Innovation Fund, speed up clinical trials, recruit top-tier specialists and grow prevention programs across the region. Clinicians at the Heart Institute are treating it as a turning point that could keep more complex heart care in Oregon instead of sending patients out of state.
Providence outlines the plan
Providence said the new package, the second $75 million donation the Knights have made to the health system, will set up the Knight Innovation Fund and support "centers of excellence," emerging technologies and prevention work, according to Providence. The organization also noted that the Knights' giving has now totaled nearly $200 million to the Heart Institute over the past decade, which makes these gifts the largest in Providence Oregon's history. Hospital leaders say that money will back both advanced procedures inside the hospital and community-facing efforts that try to cut heart risk long before anyone needs an operating room.
Doctor: Money will help recruiting
Dr. Dan Oseran, executive medical director who leads Providence Heart Institute's clinical teams, told the Portland Business Journal that the donation instantly makes Providence a stronger player in the race for surgeons and researchers. "Their additional investment is a validation of what we've been able to accomplish thus far," Oseran said, adding that the new funding should help the institute pull in "the best talent from around the globe." That recruiting push sits at the center of Providence's strategy to broaden services and keep more high-acuity care in Portland.
What the earlier gift changed
The Knights' first $75 million gift to Providence landed in 2019. That earlier round helped the Heart Institute expand, move ahead with a heart-transplant program and resulted in a pavilion being renamed in the donors' honor, as Becker's Hospital Review reported. Providence leaders point to concrete program outcomes, from transplant certification to high volumes of TAVR procedures, as proof that large, focused donations can change what care is available. The new gift is intended to build on those gains and extend them more broadly across the region.
Knights' bigger footprint across Oregon
The Knights' health care philanthropy is not confined to Providence. In August 2025, Phil and Penny Knight pledged $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University's Knight Cancer Institute, a move that national outlets said would reshape cancer care in Oregon, according to The Associated Press. Taken together, those two massive investments show how a handful of very large gifts can steer where advanced medical services are built and who ends up leading them.
What to watch next
Providence says more specifics on new hires, timelines and program launches will roll out as the Knight Innovation Fund is put to work, according to Providence. For patients on the ground, hospital leaders say that should translate into wider access to advanced procedures along with stronger prevention and wellness programs in the months ahead.
