Compassionate, patient-centered care is a core value at EvergreenHealth, which is why chief executive officer, Ettore Palazzo, MD, likes to visit hospitalized patients who want some company. In mid-2024, Dean Weidner was one of those patients. Dean’s wife, Ana Weidner, had died unexpectedly shortly before his hospital stay at EvergreenHealth.
What could have been a lonely time for Dean was instead the start of a treasured friendship that inspired a landmark $100 million philanthropic gift that will shape the future of local health care in our community.
“We’d sit in his room that faced south, and we would look at the DeYoung Pavilion, and he’d ask about what we’re working on and what the hospital needed,” Dr. Palazzo recalled. “We’d talk about how someday; we’ll need a new patient tower.”
Dean Weidner played a significant role in our community as a philanthropist and the founder and chairman of one of the nation’s largest multifamily developers, Weidner Apartment Homes, headquartered in Kirkland.
When the friends were not chatting about their shared love of automobiles and airplanes, development was on Dean’s mind: How would EvergreenHealth keep up with the care needs of this booming population in the East King County suburbs? EvergreenHealth in Kirkland needed to grow, and Dean understood the enormous cost of capital construction for something like a new patient tower. Philanthropy was key to planning the project.
A history of health care philanthropy
Dean and Ana began receiving care at EvergreenHealth in 2019 and became donors soon after. In that time, Dean and Ana had quietly supported EvergreenHealth Foundation; giving about $3.7 million toward enhanced technology and infection control projects for the hospital—but a lead gift for a new tower would be transformative for EvergreenHealth and historic for our Foundation.
Charting the future of EvergreenHealth
Dean’s hospitalization at EvergreenHealth coincided with a pivotal moment for the hospital. Local health care was on the ballot during the summer 2025 election. For the first time since the hospital opened in 1972, EvergreenHealth or “King County Public Hospital District #2” was asking voters to increase the property tax levy that supports the hospital.
Dean recognized the importance of this vote—without taxpayer support, EvergreenHealth’s status as an independent, community-owned hospital held an uncertain future. When voters passed the levy increase by a notable margin, Dean recognized this as a show of community trust in EvergreenHealth. Passing the levy lid lift was essential to the future of care at EvergreenHealth but the increase in taxpayer revenue for health care services was not a solution to the hospital’s capacity limits.
“I think the hospital is really at its peak and needs to be expanded, because it supports suburban communities that are all growing,” Dean said to the EvergreenHealth Foundation earlier this year. “You’re going to have continued growth for EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, no question.”
In conversations with hospital leadership, Dean indicated an interest in making a gift that would support the growth of EvergreenHealth.
A transformative gift
When respected EvergreenHealth radiation oncologist, Eric Taylor, MD, asked Dean to make a lead gift in support of a future patient care tower; he did not hesitate. Dean offered $100 million to EvergreenHealth Foundation, the largest philanthropic gift in our foundation’s 36-year history. This generous gift gives the hospital the resources to start plans for a future patient care tower on the Kirkland campus. It was also a way for Dean to honor his late wife Ana’s commitment to EvergreenHealth.
“A gift of this size is more than financial support. It is an expression of trust,” Dr. Palazzo said. “Dean was placing confidence in EvergreenHealth’s people, our mission and our ability to plan responsibly for the future.”
Dean made his gift commitment early, long before plans for the future patient tower started. This momentous moment for EvergreenHealth comes with sadness, as well. On March 17, 2026, Dean died at his home in California at age 83.
Building a legacy of care
Loved ones described Dean as profoundly generous, someone who invested in causes ranging from cultural preservation to homelessness support services and more.
Dean viewed himself as a community developer. By investing in projects that enrich a place, from planting mature trees to revitalizing treasured community assets, Dean built stronger, more resilient communities, everywhere he went; it is telling that he recognized EvergreenHealth’s role in strengthening the well-being of ours.
We are truly honored that Dean and Ana Weidner trusted EvergreenHealth Foundation with this transformative gift. Their spirit of giving will live on at EvergreenHealth, not just in the future patient care tower itself, but in the care delivered there, for generations to come.
This story will appear on page 6-7 of the fall/winter 2026 edition of the Giving Matters newsletter.