RAPID CITY, SD (March 4, 2025) — The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is granting more than $2 million to Monument Health Children’s to purchase state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) equipment. This investment will allow newborns and their families to access critical care close to home.
The grant allows for the purchase of more than 20 medical devices, including a high-frequency oscillatory ventilator, two transport incubators, a 24-hour EEG machine, and much more. With the addition of this equipment, physicians, nurses and caregivers expect to greatly improve neonatal outcomes within a 250-mile radius of Rapid City, South Dakota.
“An infant’s extended NICU hospital stay can lead to months away from home for families, which can be financially and emotionally draining,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “The addition of this equipment will ensure that families in the region spanning South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming can access the same top-notch care available to residents of major cities.”
The grant will fund equipment and technology assisting with transport, monitoring, thermal regulation, airway and oxygenation support, infant and mother safety and care staff development. This investment strengthens Monument Health’s commitment to delivering exceptional health care services to western South Dakota’s communities.
“The Helmsley Charitable Trust’s transformative gift of more than $2 million will help ensure that our most vulnerable pediatric patients receive the highest level of critical care when they need it most,” said Paulette Davidson, Monument Health President and CEO. “This investment in life-saving equipment demonstrates their deep commitment to improving children’s healthcare in our region. We are profoundly grateful for their partnership in helping us deliver exceptional care to critically ill children and their families.”
(Additional information including photos and b-roll video can be downloaded from https://helmsleytrust.box.com/s/w8m11nz3cf51ncyd7sgdnaqaujptqp6i).
About the Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed more than $4.5 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. Helmsley’s Rural Healthcare Program funds innovative projects that use information technologies to connect rural patients to emergency medical care, bring the latest medical therapies to patients in remote areas, and provide state-of-the-art training for rural hospitals and EMS personnel. To date, this program has awarded more than $750 million to organizations and initiatives in the states of Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and two U.S. Pacific territories, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For more information, visitwww.helmsleytrust.org.
About Monument Health
Headquartered in Rapid City, S.D., Monument Health is a community-based health care system with a mission to make a difference, every day. The system offers care in 31 medical specialties and serves 14 communities across western South Dakota and in eastern Wyoming. With over 5,000 physicians and caregivers, Monument Health is composed of 5 hospitals and 38 medical clinics and specialty centers. Monument Health is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.