Gov. Josh Green has announced a $10 million grant to further cancer care on Oʻahu.
The grant comes from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, which is giving $5 million each to the Queen's Medical Center-West Oʻahu and Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu.
In a press conference Thursday, Green emphasized how this funding will help ensure patients can stay home on the islands to receive care.
“Too often, families facing a cancer diagnosis also have a burden of travel, whether it's far from home to go to the mainland or just between the islands,” he said. “This announcement is more than about funding, it's about hope that people can get the care they're going to need.”
Both Queen's West Oʻahu and Kapiʻolani will build a new cancer and infusion center that will double their patient capacity. The funding also brings in medical practices that haven't been offered in the state in the past.
Gidget Ruscetta, Kapiʻolani's chief operating officer, said one practice being introduced with the new center is chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, an immunotherapy that fights cancer at a cellular level.
“It's initiatives like these that will allow our patients to receive world-class care in Hawaiʻi,” Ruscetta said. “If it weren’t for this center, these patients would have never been able to receive this care here.”
Along with advanced practices comes a new and improved atmosphere for both locations. Queen's West Oʻahu CEO Jason Chang noted that their new infusion center will be on the top floor, overlooking the ocean. This space will have 12 infusion chairs versus the current five.
“There's a beautiful view where patients will be able to get their infusion treatment overlooking the water,” Chang said. “We can't think of a more beautiful backdrop if you have to go through cancer treatment than to have that type of environment.”
Kapiʻolani will be expanding to 25,000 square feet, up from their current space of 5,000 square feet. With this additional space, it will be adding healing gardens, a pharmacy, monkeypod trees, and a spa-like entrance to curate an environment of healing. It's expected to open by spring 2027.
