Nike Co-Founder Donates $1.1B for Women's Health Hospital

Oregon is getting a groundbreaking women's health hospital thanks to a record-shattering gift from Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny.

The couple pledged $1.1 billion to Providence, a nonprofit health network, making it one of the largest donations ever given to a U.S. healthcare institution. The funds will build Oregon's first hospital focused exclusively on women's health on the campus of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland.

The new hospital will provide specialized care in gynecology, pregnancy, labor and delivery, menopause, and cardiovascular health. Providence leaders say many pregnant patients now manage multiple conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and behavioral health challenges that require more comprehensive support.

"Penny and I have always believed that real breakthroughs come from people willing to take on the toughest challenges," Phil Knight said in a statement. Providence has already shown that ambition in cardiovascular care, he added, and the same opportunity exists for women's health.

The Ripple Effect

The Knights have long invested in healthcare innovation. Over the past decade, they donated $200 million to the Providence Heart Institute, which has grown from serving 40,000 patients annually to nearly 63,000 across the Pacific Northwest.

Part of the new gift will expand the heart institute's diagnostic imaging, clinical trials, and recruitment of leading doctors. Cardiovascular disease remains the top cause of death and hospitalization in America, making this work especially critical.

The donation represents a generational shift in how Oregon approaches healthcare. "The Knights' extraordinary gift is a generational investment, leading to bold and innovative ideas that will shape healthcare in Oregon for decades to come," said Jennifer Burrows, chief executive of Providence Oregon.

Knight, now 88, co-founded Nike with Bill Bowerman in Eugene in 1964 under the name Blue Ribbon Sports. His current net worth stands at $25.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Thousands of women across Oregon will receive world-class care thanks to one couple's belief in better healthcare.