A Nevada couple is donating $150 million to build the state’s first stand-alone children’s hospital; decades ago, a hospital saved their child’s life | World News

Three decades ago, Felicia Horowitz watched her child receive lifesaving treatment at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in California. During that difficult period, she noticed the Packard name displayed on the hospital walls and made a personal promise to herself that if she and her husband, Ben Horowitz, could one day afford to do so, they would give back to help other families facing similar circumstances. That promise has now taken shape in a major philanthropic commitment. The couple has pledged $150 million towards Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital, a project intended to expand access to specialised paediatric healthcare in a state where families have long faced challenges obtaining complex treatment close to home.

A decades-old promise becomes a major philanthropic commitment

The donation was announced on October 23, 2026, by Intermountain Foundation. The new facility will be named the Intermountain Health Felicia and Ben Horowitz Children’s Hospital in recognition of the couple’s contribution. According to Intermountain Health, the gift is among the largest publicly announced donations to a children’s hospital in the United States.Felicia Horowitz is president of the Horowitz Family Foundation and co-founder and president of The Paid in Full Foundation. Her husband, Ben Horowitz, is a co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z.The contribution forms part of the Nevada Campaign for Kids, a wider philanthropic effort supporting the hospital’s development. For the couple, the project offers an opportunity to turn a deeply personal experience into support for families who may otherwise struggle to access specialised medical services.

Why Nevada needs a stand-alone children’s hospital

Southern Nevada has long lacked a dedicated, comprehensive children’s hospital capable of bringing a broad range of specialised paediatric services together under one roof. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a stand-alone children’s hospital. The publication also reported that Nevada ranks 48th in paediatricians per capita and that nearly 30,000 Nevada families leave the state annually to seek healthcare for their children.For families requiring complex procedures or specialist consultations, travelling out of state can mean additional expenses, time away from work and the difficulty of managing a child’s treatment far from home. A dedicated facility in Las Vegas is intended to reduce those barriers by expanding local access to specialist teams and advanced paediatric services.Ben Horowitz said he was surprised to discover the gap in children’s healthcare after moving to Southern Nevada with his wife about five years ago. He expressed the hope that families would no longer have to face the risk of losing a child because the necessary medical expertise was unavailable locally.

Inside the $1 billion hospital project

The hospital is being developed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas. The overall project is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, making it a major healthcare infrastructure investment for the region.The planned facility will cover approximately 828,600 square feet across a 33-acre campus. Its inpatient tower is expected to open in 2030 with 180 beds, with space to expand capacity to 228 beds as demand grows.Intermountain Health has committed to funding a substantial share of the project, while donations from individuals and organisations are helping support the campaign. The Horowitz family’s $150 million pledge represents a major contribution towards the development and its broader ambition to improve children’s healthcare in Nevada.The project broke ground on October 26, 2026. Once operational, the hospital is expected to create around 1,300 jobs and generate an estimated $800 million in annual economic impact for Clark County, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Specialised care, research and medical talent

Beyond its inpatient facilities, the hospital is intended to strengthen the region’s ability to provide specialised treatment for children. Intermountain Health says the investment will help recruit experienced paediatric healthcare professionals, develop specialised programmes and advance medical research.Behavioural health is among the areas the health system has identified as a priority, alongside broader access to specialist paediatric care. Recruiting physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals will be central to establishing the hospital’s services and building expertise within Nevada.The project is also connected to Intermountain Health’s wider paediatric healthcare network. The organisation operates Primary Children’s Hospitals in Utah and is expanding paediatric services in Billings, Montana. Its stated ambition is to connect specialist knowledge, research and treatment across the communities it serves, allowing developments in one location to benefit children elsewhere in the network.

Other major donors are backing the hospital

The Horowitz family’s pledge follows several other substantial contributions to the Nevada Campaign for Kids. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Larry and Heidi Canarelli pledged $50 million earlier in October. In August, the Las Vegas Raiders and three of the franchise’s co-owners committed a combined $25 million. Singer Bruno Mars also contributed $1 million at a public event in April.Felicia Horowitz has emphasised that improving children’s health requires contributions from across the community. She hopes families will regard the future hospital as a shared institution, built to serve children throughout Nevada rather than as a project belonging to any one donor.