Updated

The estate of comedian-TV host Johnny Carson (search) has donated $5 million to Faith Regional Health (search) Services.

The donation will be used to fund an endowment for the Carson Cancer Center to ensure that services remain available to people in northeast Nebraska, said Faith Regional Chief Executive Officer Bob Driewer.

Carson's gift is the largest the hospital has ever received, Driewer said Tuesday.

The center was named in memory of Carson's parents, and according to the hospital Web site, Carson made the largest financial donation to the initial building fund.

A hospital spokeswoman said she could not say how much Carson or his estate had donated over the years.

Carson, known as the king of late-night television, died in January. He was 79.

Born in Corning, Iowa, Carson moved to Norfolk when he was 8, and graduated from high school there.