Billionaire Graeme Hart, New Zealand’s richest man, and his wife Robyn have donated $6.5 million to Starship Children’s Hospital.
The donation, which had been made in the name of the couple, aims to support the hospital’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit expansion at Te Toka Tumai Auckland.
The hospital received an additional $25 million from the Government and $23 million - which includes the Hart's donation - from the Starship Foundation to make the facilities “world-class”.
The Hart family are well known for their children’s health philanthropy, with Graeme’s daughter, Gretchen Hawkesby, working on the Starship Foundation’s board for over 12 years.
This donation will likely go towards funding towards state-of-the-art spaces and equipment, creating a “more comfortable and nurturing environment for whānau”.
It will also go towards providing better training for specialised staff.
“The family’s donation will improve the lives of countless children and their whānau and will help us provide world-class treatment, care and facilities for the very sickest of our nation's children," Te Whatu Ora interim lead of hospital and specialist services for Te Toka Tumai Auckland Dr Mike Shepherd said.
Te Whatu Ora director of Starship services Dr John Beca said: “Starship’s PICU is a national service for the most seriously unwell children from across Aotearoa. However, the expansion project will transform many services in Starship."
“It also includes improved spaces for the whānau of PICU patients, an upgrade of public spaces for all whānau, a Medical Day Stay Unit and enhanced staff spaces.”
Te Whatu Ora said that since the Covid-19 outbreak, the unit has often been at capacity.
Beca said the donation will help to future-proof the hospital.
“As we grow our specialist Starship PICU team, the additional 10 PICU beds mean we can care for more children who become critically ill or need support after major surgery such as heart, spine and transplant surgery,” Beca said.
According to Forbes, Hart is close to $14b.
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