The biggest healthcare gifts of 2025

Hospitals and academic institutions enjoyed generous contributions in 2025, but some have reason to be even more grateful this year.

A few philanthropists provided donations in the nine-figure range. But Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, and his wife Penny Knight topped them all. They pledged to donate $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University.

Here’s a look back at the year’s biggest gifts to hospitals, health systems and academic institutions over the past year.

We’ll also offer one important note: The Gates Foundation said in August that it would provide $2.5 billion in women’s health research over the next five years. It’s an extraordinary commitment to studies of women’s health, an area that has not received nearly enough attention, as Bill Gates noted in making the announcement. The foundation hasn’t announced specific recipients but said it aimed to help women and girls in lower- and middle-income countries.

However, this listing focuses on gifts provided this year to specific health systems and institutions.

Oregon Health & Science University

Phil and Penny Knight’s $2 billion pledge didn’t merely top all healthcare gifts in 2025. Their gift surpassed all other charitable contributions of any kind this year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The university says the commitment is the largest to a U.S. college or academic medical center, exceeding Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion contribution to Johns Hopkins University in 2018.

The money will go to the Knight Cancer Institute, and the Knights say they are aiming to transform cancer care. Brian Druker, MD, the director of the Knight Cancer Institute, said the money will aim to accelerate cutting-edge research and improve treatment for those battling the disease.

“It can seem impossible to navigate the health care system after being diagnosed with cancer,” Druker said in a statement. “We’re going to change that.”

The Knights previously pledged $500 million to the Knight Cancer Institute in 2013, if the university could match that gift within two years. OHSU was up to the task and secured $1 billion in donations.

Sanford Health

The rural health system received another major gift from Denny Sanford, the organization's biggest benefactor.

He has provided a $300 million gift for a new medical campus in Rapid City, South Dakota. The owner and chairman of United National Corp., Sanford has contributed nearly $2 billion to the system since 2004.

The plans include a hospital with 168 inpatient beds, with the ability to add another 168 beds. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, with completion projected by 2030.

Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health, said Sanford’s gifts “have transformed health care across the region, touched the lives of millions and will continue to benefit the communities we serve for generations to come.”

Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sanford Health has had a memorable year. The system completed the acquisition of the Marshfield Clinic Health System, based in Wisconsin. Sanford operates 56 hospitals across the Midwest.

Gifts to 6 children’s hospitals

Businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano announced contributions of $253 million to six pediatric hospitals around the country.

Some recipients said they represented the largest contributions they had ever received.

The Golisano Foundation also unveiled the formation of the Golisano Children’s Alliance, which is aimed at improving pediatric care.

The foundation announced donations to these six children’s hospitals:

• Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, Conn. ($50 million);
• Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, Hershey, Penn. ($50 million);
• University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Lexington, Ky. ($50 million);
• University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, Baltimore ($50 million);
• University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, Burlington, Vt. ($25 million);
• WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, Morgantown, W. Va. ($28 million)

Golisano, the founder of Paychex, Inc., apparently isn’t done. He said in a news release that he would make “similar transformative gifts that will strengthen this new alliance."

MD Anderson and Texas Children’s

The Kinder Foundation has given The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children’s Hospital $150 million to expand cancer research and treatment.

The gift was announced in May. A facility for the new cancer center will be built on the campus of the Texas Medical Center and connect to Texas Children’s Hospital. Officials say the new cancer center will launch in early 2026.

MD Anderson and Texas Children have collaborated before, but they are looking forward to greatly expanding the research they do.

Richard Gorlick, MD, head of the division of pediatrics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that the goal is to find cures.

“Obviously it's always scary to say your mission is to end childhood cancer,” he said. “That's a tall order, but you have a lot of resources that are being brought to bear, and I think it's the right mission. Because to say you're going to do anything less isn't really, you know, bold enough for this particular scale of an enterprise.”

Gorlick is also a survivor of childhood cancer.

Massachusetts General Hospital

The New Balance Foundation donated $100 million to the Boston hospital, a founding member of Mass General Brigham. The foundation is the charitable arm of New Balance, the athletic footwear and apparel company based in Boston.

The hospital is planning to build a new tower for cardiovascular care, which will be named the New Balance Foundation Tower.

The new tower is expected to offer five floors for inpatient services, including 190 acute care beds and 32 cardiac ICU beds. Construction on the building is slated to begin in 2027, and the tower is expected to be open for patients in 2030.

David F. M. Brown, MD, president of academic medical centers at Mass General Brigham, said in October, “It is only fitting that our two organizations both emerged from humble beginnings in the city of Boston and whose community footprint and commitment to service now extends to those throughout New England, across the country, and around the world.”

Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, donated $50 million to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine to establish the institute and accelerate studies of autism.

The organizations announced the gift in June.

Daniel Rader, MD, chief of translational medicine and human genetics at Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, serves as the interim director of Lurie Autism Institute.

He told Chief Healthcare Executive® that the goal is “to really try to dive into autism and advance the ball in terms of research, in a way that … maybe would be different than what's been done so far.”

Rader says he wants potential donors to think of the Lurie Autism Institute as the place for the “best, most impactful research in autism “

Lurie, who has owned the Eagles for more than 30 years, brings a personal sense of mission. His brother, Peter, is on the autism spectrum.