University of Hawaiʻi medical students, residents and faculty from the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) are involved in the deliveries of one third of the babies born in Hawaiʻi every year, many of them high risk births, and many born to families unable to pay for the service.
Thanks to a $5 million dollar gift to the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, the program will be able to invest in its clinical training, research and faculty development–to continue providing excellent care to expecting mothers and their babies.
The gift comes from the Kosasa family, who founded ABC Stores in 1964. It is the largest private philanthropic investment to date by an individual donor or family, to the university’s medical school. The gift is being given just as the medical school kicks off the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1965.
Dr. Thomas Kosasa represented the Kosasa family at an informal announcement to faculty and residents at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children, where he is professor emeritus in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health.
Kosasa says part of the gift will create the $4 million Kosasa Endowed Chair for current department chair Zalud. The other $1 million will create two Kosasa Endowed professorships.