Handprints - Fall 2002 - Children`s Hospital Oakland

HandPrints
C H I L D R E N ' S H O S P I TA L & R E S E A R C H C E N T E R AT O A K L A N D
Special Pullout Section on
th
Children’s 90 Birthday!
inside:
fall 2002
first ten
days
PAGE 5
ICN STAFF SAVES
A LIFE
family
care
PAGE 6
GAINING A SECOND
FAMILY AT CHILDREN’S
who’s for kids,
who’s just kidding
BUDGET WOES THREATEN
CHILDREN’S CARE
PAGE 27
2
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
calendar
events
OF
SEPTEMBER
13 “What’s Up Doc?” luncheon
table of contents
5
featuring Renee Wachtel, MD,
director of Developmental &
Behavioral Pediatrics, CHORI,
510-428-3360
19 Macy’s Passport Fashion Show
and dinner, benefiting Children’s
Pediatric HIV/AIDS Program and
others, Fort Mason, San Francisco
20 Children’s Hospital 90th birth-
3
4
HEALTH FACTS
5
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The First Ten Days Macey spent the first 10 days of her life at
Children’s. It was a time her mother will never forget, and Macey
will never remember, but it changed the lives of both of them.
6
6
day celebration, 510-428-3367
Ruby Hill Golf Club, Pleasanton,
510-428-3128
ner and celebration, 510-428-3362
19 Rowan Branch Gala Des
9
22
Just Kidding” children’s health
summit, 510-428-3367
24
22
DECEMBER
2 Richmond/Ermet AIDS
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CENTER
FOUNDATION
Donors Nurture a Family Tradition of Philanthropy
Gift Annuities In a market filled with uncertainties, a gift that
guarantees payment for life.
Party, Oakland Airport Hilton,
Oakland, 510-521-2049
4-13 ASID (American Society for
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
Building Blocks to Honor Loved Ones Join us as we build the
hospital of the future and pay tribute to loved ones.
24 “Who’s For Kids and Who’s
Foundation “Help is on the Way For
the Holidays” benefit concert and
gala, Palace of Fine Arts, San
Francisco, 415-931-0317
SPECIAL EDITION
90th Birthday Scrapbook Nine decades in pictures and clips.
Pediatrics and Children’s Hospitals: 2,000 Years
9
Enfants, Blackhawk Museum,
Danville, 925-937-9638
NOVEMBER
8 Tea & Tax Tips, 510-428-3362
20 Garden Branch Annual Holiday
LEAD FEATURE
Family Care For the Rexhepi family, the end of one perilous journey marked the beginning of another. This time, their “second
family” at Children’s helped them face the challenges.
30 Score Fore Kids Golf Classic,
OCTOBER
17 Legacy for Children’s Care din-
DEAR READER
Letter from the President
27
ADVOCATING FOR KIDS
Who’s for Kids and Who’s Just Kidding Proposed solutions
to budget woes threaten children’s access to health care.
27
Interior Designers) At Home for the
Holidays showcase exhibit
benefiting the Center for Child
Protection. Mon.–Fri., 9:30 a.m.–
4:00 p.m., San Francisco Design
District, 415-626-2743
7 Third Annual Oakland Tribune
Holiday Parade, Broadway,
Oakland, 510-428-3128
21 Hill Branch Annual Winter Ball,
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco,
510-654-5125 or 510-547-5309
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FA L L 2 0 0 2
dear reader:
When we opened our doors 90 years ago, the image
of pediatric healthcare was quite different from what
we see today. The specialty of pediatrics wasn’t very
widespread, and the idea of a hospital dedicated
solely to the care of children was new to the Bay
Area. Doctors and nurses worked in starched white
uniforms; today, healthcare providers wear colorful
scrubs or sturdy “civilian” clothes so they can
easily get down to kids’ level for comfort and care.
The most eminent threat to children’s health
in 1912 (see Pediatrics and Children’s Hospitals:
2,000 Years, page 18) is easily treated today, and
community epidemics are now a thing of the past.
Reviewing the remarkable achievements and successes of our first 90 years makes
for a very pleasant stroll down memory lane, sometimes with amusing scenery—be
sure to flip through our pull-out scrapbook with vintage photos of the way we
were. But even as we take pride and pleasure in our accomplishments in the past,
it’s important to keep our sights focused clearly on what we need to do in the
future. Our mission, then and now, is to provide the high quality pediatric care that
is the birthright of every child. Carrying that mission forward into the 21st century
will mean planning, practices and business models that may be as different from
what we knew in the past as today’s streamlined technology is from the clunky
machinery of 1912.
3
HandPrints
A C H I L D R E N ' S H O S P I TA L & R E S E A R C H C E N T E R AT O A K L A N D P U B L I C AT I O N
Children’s HandPrints is a publication
of Children’s Hospital & Research
Center at Oakland, 747 Fifty Second
Street, Oakland, CA 94609; Phone:
510-428-3000.
Written, Designed and Produced by:
Communications Dept. at
Children’s Hospital & Research
Center at Oakland
665 Fifty Third Street
Oakland, CA 94609
Phone: 510-428-3367
Fax: 510-601-3907
Tony Paap
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mary L. Dean
Senior Vice President, External Relations
Debbie Dare
Graphic/Print Designer
Susan Foxall
Operations Manager
Susan Martinez
Media/Public Relations Manager
Vanya Rainova
Publications Manager
Cynthia Romanov
Editorial Content Manager
Considering how we can successfully meet the needs of future generations of kids
has been a particularly thoughtful task in the context of reviewing our past this
birthday year. We can look to the foresight and integrity of our founding mothers
who “got” the mission right so many years ago and renew our determination to
continue to fulfill that mission while growing in response to community need.
We have truly come a very long way. Please join us in these pages as we
celebrate the past, bring you up to date on the present and envision the future.
Best Wishes,
Tony Paap
President and CEO, Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland
Neile Shea
Senior Web Designer
Contributing Writer:
Kim Goetzel
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CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
health facts
*
B L O O D D O N O R S I N S H O R T S U P P LY
In 1975, neonatal-prenatal medicine
became a board-certified subspecialty
of pediatrics, and access to neonatal
intensive care, once limited by the
small number of institutions offering
care and the few trained specialists
available, became regionalized. This
change had a significant impact on
the well-being of newborns: In 1970,
20 infants died for each 1000 live
births. By 1999, than number had slid
to 7.1. (Center for Disease Control at
www.cdc.gov)
READ ABOUT NEONATAL INTENSIVE
CARE IN THE FIRST TEN DAYS ON
PAGE 5.
An estimated 50 percent of
all Americans will receive at
least one blood transfusion
at some point in their lives.
An estimated 5 percent of Americans
—more than 13 million people—have
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
at any given time. Studies have shown
that as many as 100 percent of
children who witness a parental
homicide or sexual assault develop
PTSD. Similarly, 90 percent of sexually
abused children, 77 percent of
children exposed to a school shooting
and 35 percent of urban youth
exposed to community violence
develop PTSD. (National Center for
PTSD at www.ncptsd.org)
READ ABOUT TRAUMA AND PTSD
IN HEALING—BEYOND THE BANDAID ON PAGE 6.
Blood donors must be 17 years or older, weigh no less than 110 lbs. and enjoy
general good health. To donate, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or log on to BeADonor.com
to schedule an appointment.★
*
*
* *
*
The first recorded direct acknowledgement of the psychological and
physiological differences of children
and the specialized care children
require appeared in literature in 10
A.D. The first children’s hospital was
founded almost nine centuries later.
READ ABOUT THE HISTORY OF
PEDIATRICS IN PEDIATRICS AND
CHILDREN’S HOSPITALS: 2,000
YEARS ON PAGE 18.
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
However, only 5 percent donate
blood to the American Red Cross
nationally, and an even lower 3
percent are donors in the Bay Area.
The combined effect of low donor
response and increased blood demand
has Northern California experiencing a dramatic blood supply shortage that can
barely meet the region’s needs for two days.
The Northern California region needs to collect 9600 pints of blood every
month to meet the local needs of patients in the 42 Northern California hospitals
where patients being treated for accidents, routine surgeries and serious diseases
such as cancer depend on donated blood.
Ideally, the Red Cross aims for five to seven days worth of blood supply, three
times as much as is currently available. If the shortage persists, it will affect the
ability of area hospitals to respond to traumas, and may lead to the cancellation of
some elective surgeries.
M E D I C A I D F U N D I N G C U T S T H R E AT E N
C H I L D R E N ’ S A C C E S S T O H E A LT H C A R E
Almost a third of California’s
children are enrolled in Medicaid.
Although children make up more than
half of California’s Medicaid population, the state spends only 25 percent
of Medicaid funds on children. Each
Medicaid-eligible child costs California
just $1,118, on average, compared to
the average cost per adult Medicaid
enrollee of $4,027.
Between 1994 and 1999, pediatricians and pediatric specialists provided 51
percent of all office visits to children on Medicaid. Unfortunately, low reimbursement
rates place an unfair burden not only on pediatricians, but also on children and their
families.
Committed to serving all children regardless of ability to pay, children’s hospitals
provide 40 percent of all inpatient hospital care for children on Medicaid. But state
Medicaid payments to children’s hospitals are already low, covering only 69 to 80
percent of what it actually costs to provide care.
An estimated 1.7 million California children—more than 1 in 6—are uninsured. If
Medicaid funding is cut, that number will grow dramatically. (National Association of
Children’s Hospitals and Research Institutions at www.nachri.org)
Read about the challenges to providing health care to all California children in
WHO’S FOR KIDS AND WHO’S JUST KIDDING on page 27. ★
By far the nation’s largest
public provider of children’s
health insurance, Medicaid
is a critical healthcare
safety net for millions of
low-income children.
FA L L 2 0 0 2
The First
Ten Days
I WA S D U E
JUNE 23, 1999.
My husband Jon and
I had decided to do it
all: we attended
Lamaze, baby CPR,
parenting and sibling classes; we
managed healthy diets and never smoked
or drank; we walked daily; we went to
counseling sessions on how to best
integrate our growing family.
At my appointment with the obstetrician on June 16 everything appeared
to be perfect and status quo, including
my swollen Fred Flintstone feet. No
open cervix, no dilation. I got a goodnatured warning: “This may take a
while.” Over that weekend I waited. On
Monday I woke up feeling crummy, and
as the day went on, I felt worse. I called
my obstetrician, who said, “If you feel
unsure, come in. It never hurts to
check.”
We headed to the hospital, where I
was admitted and hooked up to monitors. Within 15 minutes the nurse came
in to prepare me for a C-section because
my baby’s heart beat kept cutting off the
5
both hemorrhaged.
Macey got the
worst of it. She
had aspirated
blood into both
lungs and had
monitor. In the OR I heard the doctors
pulmonary hypertension, blood in her
say this was really serious. It had been
stomach and a heart murmur. Her right
three minutes since the baby’s last heart
lung collapsed, then the left. She needed
beat. Suddenly, everything we had
three blood transfusions. No one knew
worked so hard to perfect was in grave
why it had happened; it was one of those
danger.
things that happen to one in…oh, who
I remember hearing Macey’s weak
cares how many women! The possibility
first cry. Was that right?
of losing our daughter haunted
There was so much hustle
me.
IN THEIR
and bustle going on. Then
I couldn’t see Macey for five
they brought her to me in an
days; I had to recover, too. I
WORDS
incubator with tubes and
called Children’s every day. The
wires everywhere. “She’s
nurses
didn’t mind that I bawled
BY K I M
being transported to
my
eyes
out with every conversaGOETZEL
Children’s Hospital
tion. They were always happy to
Oakland,” the pediatrician
talk with me and told me I
said. “There’s nothing else we can do for
could call as often as I wanted. Those
her here.” Confused and upset, I said
touch-and-go days with only a phone
good-bye to my newborn daughter.
connection were difficult, and the nurses
Jon followed Macey to Children’s. He
understood. They gave my husband a
was told my placenta had detached from
the uterine wall and the baby and I had
[ C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 6 ]
Own
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CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
Family
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
FA L L 2 0 0 2
7
Care
Three years ago, the Rexhepi family fled the perils of war to find
asylum in the United States. Their journey from Kosovo ended
in Oakland, where they faced another odyssey marked by fear
and uncertainty. This time, they had help from their “second
On a sunny Saturday morning, thousands of miles and many
months away from the horrors of war, 6-year-old Vjollca Rexhepi
nestles beside her father, Rabit. Her mom, Mexhide, cradles 1-yearold Doruntina, who was born in the United States. Her older brother
Dardan, age 9, is engrossed in Pokemon. In the domestic comfort of
their Oakland home, it is hard to imagine this family’s life in a refugee
camp, where they shared a tent with as many as 58 people and
possessed nothing but two blankets—one for each child. But the
Rexhepis will never forget.
The grim conditions of the refugee camp were an improvement
over what they had faced at home, where Rabit and Mexhide feared for
their children’s lives. “Armed [Serbian] soldiers beat my nephew. He was
5 years old. The soldiers threatened his mother with sexual abuse, but
she had some money, which she gave them, and they let her go,” Rabit
says. “We left to protect our children.”
Their journey to the United States was arduous. Five days after their
arrival, Vjollca, then 3 years old, started to limp. Her ability to walk
rapidly deteriorated, and she lost control over her muscles. “All of a
sudden she couldn’t walk, she refused to eat, she just cried all day. I had
to carry her around. I was so scared,” Mexhide recalls.
[ C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 8 ]
Photo by Vanya Rainova
family” at Children’s Hospital Oakland.
H A P P Y F A M I LY Dardan, Doruntina and Vjollca in front
of their Oakland home.
8
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
[ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 7 ]
They sought help at the local community clinic. The family spoke no English,
interpreters were not always available, and
Mexhide barely understood what she was
being told. At first, doctors assumed Vjollca
was just exhausted by the long journey from
Albania. Then they suggested her symptoms
might be psychological in origin, the result
of a conversion disorder related to the
trauma the little girl had experienced.
“I went there for five days in a row, and
they kept telling me that I should give her
time and she will be okay,” Mexhide
remembers. “But how could I just sit home
and wait? My child had stopped walking all
of a sudden. I was going crazy listening to
her cry all day, not knowing what was
wrong.” She persisted until she got a referral
for her daughter at Children’s Hospital
Oakland.
Children’s pediatricians immediately
diagnosed Vjollca’s illness: Guillain-Barré
syndrome. A rare disorder affecting only 1
in 1000 people, its first symptoms include
weakness or tingling in the legs. Rapidly
worsening muscle weakness follows, sometimes spreading to the upper limbs and
sometimes resulting in paralysis. It can
strike at any age. Its cause is not known.
At Children’s Hospital Oakland, Gena
Lewis, MD, and rehabilitation physician
Elaine Pico, MD, cared for Vjollca—and
her family—during the acute phase of the
illness and through six months of rehabilitation treatment. “I will never forget Dr.
Lewis and Dr. Pico,” Mexhide says.
It wasn’t just the successful treatment of
their daughter’s illness that touched the
family, although full recovery from a disease
that turns its victims from healthy to helpless in a matter of days is cause for celebration. Rabit and Mexhide also treasure the
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
staff ’s patient, persistent and painstaking
attempts to overcome the language barrier
and ensure that the parents could participate in their daughter’s care even when an
Albanian medical interpreter wasn’t available. Mexhide reports that nurses took the
time to teach her English. Their caregivers
offered to take them grocery shopping. Dr.
Lewis told them they could contact her at
any hour and never failed to return their
pages. The Ruxhepis spent their first
Thanksgiving with Dr. Pico’s family. Rabit
notes, “You know, doctors are often close to
the patient. But to be so close to the family,
to do what they did for us, they had to be
special.”
“I had no friends in this country but my
doctors,” Mexhide adds. The relationships
endured. She still calls them just to say
hello and ask how they are doing. And they,
in turn, continue to look out for the family.
When Dardan, who had been sociable and
outgoing, became anxious, shy and withdrawn, Dr. Lewis referred him to Children’s
Psychiatry department and psychologist
Judith Libow, PhD.
“A child like Dardan could have easily
been ‘missed,’” Dr. Libow points out. “In
many ways he is what some people perceive
as the ideal child: quiet, cooperative, doesn’t
stand out as a problem kid.” But his behavior had changed. Dardan suffered from
nightmares and chest pain and often stayed
in the periphery of groups of children.
Dr. Libow identified Dardan’s
symptoms as typical of post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), a consequence of experiencing or witnessing life-threatening events.
An estimated 30 percent of adults who have
spent time in a war zone suffer from PTSD,
[ C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 1 ]
90b i r t hd ay!
Oakland
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FA L L 2 0 0 2
th
Children’s Scrapbook
View Children’s
history in pictures
and paper clippings!
Read about
the history
of pediatrics!
9
10
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
1912
Oakland
Tribune
1920
1920
1910
1928 New
Children’s
building
on 51st and
Grove streets
FA L L 2 0 0 2
11
1912
Original
Baby
Hospital
1910-29
1910-19: Population: 92,407,000 • Life expectancy: male,
48.4; female, 51.8 • Average salary: $750/year • Union
membership: 2.1 million, strikes 1,204 • Movie attendence:
30 million/week • Divorce: 1/1000 • Vacation: 12-day
cruise $60.00 • Whiskey: $3.50/gallon • Milk: $0.32/
gallon • Speeds make automobile safety an issue.
1920-39: Population: 106,521,537 • Life expectancy: male,
53.6; female, 54 • Average salary: $1236/year; teacher's
salary: $970/year • 343,000 in military (down from
1,172,601 in 1919) • Dow Jones high 100, low 67 •
Illiteracy rate reaches a new low of 6% of the population •
It took 13 days to reach California from New York • There
were 387,000 miles of paved road.
en’s
ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
1913
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
Annual report
1912
Cracker
Jack toys first
appear in boxes
1922
Annual report
1929
Children’s
X-Ray
machine
12
1940
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
Children’s
surgery room
1940 Children’s
weight room
1940
1937-
25th
Anniversary
book
Annnual
report
1940
Children’s lobby
1949
1930-49
1930-39: Population: 123,188,000 • Life expectancy: male, 58.1;
female, 61.6 • Average salary: $1,368/year • Huey Long proposes a guaranteed annual income of $2,500 • Milk: $0.14/quart •
Bread: $0.09/loaf • Round steak: $0.42/pound.
1940-49: Population: 132,122,000 • Life expectancy: male, 60.8;
female, 68.2 • Average salary $1,299/year • National debt $43
billion • Minimum wage $0.43/hour • 55% of U.S. homes have
indoor plumbing • Supreme Court affirms blacks have a right to
vote • World War II changes the order of world power, the
United States and the USSR became super powers • Cold War
begins.
en’s
ildr
Ch
1930
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
1941
Children’s heat lamp
1940
1941
Children’s iron lung
1945
The
Bambino
FA L L 2 0 0 2
1962
13
Children’s founder,
Miss Bertha Wright and
Mrs. Everett Bertillion–an
active Branches member–
at an annual meeting
1958
Oakland
Tribune
1968
Children’s
volunteers
1950-69
1950-59: Population: 149,1888,000 • Life expectancy: male,
65.6; female, 71.1 • Average salary: $2,992/year • Average car
sales: 6,665,800 • Bread: $0.14/loaf • Bomb shelter plans, such
as the government pamphlet “You Can Survive,” become widely
available.
1960-69: Population: 177,830,000 • Life expectancy:
male, 66.6, female, 73.1 • Average salary $4,743/year •
Minimum wage $1.00/hour • An estimated 850,000 “war
baby” freshmen enter college; emergency living quarters
are set up in dorm lounges, hotels and trailer camps.
en’s
ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
1960
1958
Oakland
Tribune
1958
Oakland
Tribune
14
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
1970 Children’s volunteer
1970-89
1970-79: Population: 204,879,000 • Life expectancy: male, 67.1;
female, 74.8 • Average salary: $7,564/year • Milk: $0.33/quart •
Bread: $0.24/loaf • Round steak: $1.30/pound.
1980-89: Population: 226,546,000 • Life expectancy: male, 69.9;
female, 77.6 • Average salary: $15,757/year • Minimum wage:
$3.10/hour • BMW cost: $12,000; Mercedes 280 E cost: $14,800 •
Movie attendance: 20 million/week • In 1989, Americans gave
$115,000,000,000 to charity.
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ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
1970
1987
The Bambino
1987
Children’s
Family House
opens
1970
1994
Construction of the
Outpatient Center
begins
FA L L 2 0 0 2
15
2002
Oakland Tribune
2002
Groundbreaking for the
Western Expansion
1990
1990present
1990-99: Population: 281,421,906 (2000 Census) • Life
expectancy: male 73.1; female 79.1 (1997) • Average salary:
$27,274.80/year (1999) • Teacher’s salary: $39,347 (1998) •
Minimum wage: $5.15/hour (1997)
en’s
ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
2002
Renovation of
the Outpatient
Center atrium is
completed
2002
Children’s
publishes the
premiere issue
of HandPrints
2002
Dedication of the Nutritional
Genomics Center at CHORI
16
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
en’s
ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
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a
b i r t hd
th
H I S T O R Y O F P E D I AT R I C S
Pediatrics and Children’s
Hospitals: 2,000 Years
poo poo chair
The French were first, when two hundred years ago a Parisian
foundling home was transformed into L’Hopital des Enfants Malades, the
world’s first hospital just for kids. The English followed about 50 years
later with London’s Hospital for Sick Children. An American delegation
visited and returned to the United States to found the country’s first
pediatric hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in 1855.
Considering that the special health needs of children were first acknowledged nearly 2,000 years before, these institutions were a long time
coming.
The ancients
walker
baby helmet
While the father of medicine did not write specifically about pediatrics, Hippocrates (470-410 B.C.) did describe clinical phenomena that
are well known to pediatricians today:
• “Of children, those that be by nature well nourished suck milk not
in proportion to their fleshiness
• Gross feeders that draw milk do not gain flesh in proportion
• With ulcers on the tonsils the presence of a sort of spider-web is
not favorable
• Not all who are convulsed whilst about teeth, die; many come
through it safely.”
Modern pediatricians will recognize in the first two maxims the irondeficient “milk baby,” and the third as a symptom of diphtheria. In the
last, Hippocrates blames teething for seizures, a misconception handed
down through the centuries. (The enduring myth of teething as the
source of mysterious maladies echoes throughout history. As late as
1919, more than 1,600 deaths in England were attributed to teething,
and some modern parents still believe teething causes illness.)
The eight-volume De Medicina, completed about 10 A.D., states:
“Children require to be treated entirely differently from adults.” This
observation—so obvious today—is probably the first recorded direct
acknowledgement of the psychological and physiological differences of
children. It would be another 900 years before the world would see a
text devoted to pediatric medicine, coming from China and predating
Western pediatric treatises by more than 500 years.
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FA L L 2 0 0 2
17
H I S T O R Y O F P E D I AT R I C S
Dark Ages
Europe’s Dark Ages yielded no significant scientific insight. Little was
expected in this life, particularly in childhood, but there is evidence that
the death of a child was regarded as a great loss, even in times of
plague when rates of infant and child mortality were high. The era’s
scant pediatric literature relied on derivative works and translations of
writing from other times and cultures. Manuscripts of Islamic sages—
grounded in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Chinese and Indian medicine—
found their way to the intellectual wasteland of Europe and were
translated into Latin.
Baby steps
By the end of the 15th century, nearly every European city had hospitals and foundling homes where sick, abandoned or plague-displaced
children could find shelter. Western pediatric manuscripts first appeared
at this time, including four medical treatises on children’s psychology
and pathology. Collectively referred to as the “Pediatric Incunabula,”
they cover topics ranging from common childhood illnesses to childrearing advice that has stood the test of time:
“It should be known that children should not be too severely punished…Punishment is to be praised when it is just and not too severe
and a small fault in a child may be overlooked to prevent some greater
one…Children who have reached six years should be sent to a teacher
to be taught. They should not be kept at it continually but have recess.”
The understanding of medicine in general and pediatrics in particular
flourished during the intellectual fervor of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Thomas Phaer published the “Boke of Children” (1544) devoted
exclusively to children’s diseases, including such entries as “quynsye or
swellying of throte, brustynge [hernia], pyssyng in bedde, small pockes
and measles, fevers, wormes, and stoppying of the bellye.”
But eighteenth-century medicine was still helpless against the cyclical
eruptions of devastating epidemics—smallpox, measles, whooping
cough, diphtheria, scarlet fever, mumps and cholera—that took the
lives of thousands of children. During the smallpox epidemic of 1721,
inoculation, long practiced in the East, was finally introduced in the
American colonies.
age
The front p of
of a volume ic
the “Pediatr
Incunabula”
Front page of
Thomas Phaer’
“Boke of Child s
ren”
(1544)
18
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
en’s
ildr
Ch
ital Oakland
celeb
Hosp
ra t e s t s
i
!
y
a
b i r t hd
th
H I S T O R Y O F P E D I AT R I C S
Modern medicine
Louis Pasteu
r
y
Dr. Spock's “Bab first
”
e,
ar
C
and Child
,
published in 1946
of
e
bl
was the bi
e
parents during th
at
th
baby boom
followed World
War II.
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
Pediatrics as a separate field of study became widely recognized and
accepted in the 19th century, with those who treated children exclusively
called “pediatrists.”
Historians locate the advent of modern medicine as the application
of the germ theory in the last decade of the 19th century. Louis
Pasteur—a scientist, not a clinician—discovered treatments for anthrax,
then rabies. Medicine changed more rapidly in the century
following Pasteur’s discoveries than in any other equivalent period in
history. Community-decimating epidemics of infectious diseases mostly
vanished in the West, and international efforts drastically reduced their
occurrence worldwide. Mass immunizations for children resulted in
enormous progress against many once-common deadly diseases.
Smallpox had been around since the sixth century; as of May 1980, it
was eradicated globally. Diphtheria afflicted 207,000 people in the
United States at its peak in 1921; in 1983, there were only five cases. In
the early 1950s, polio struck nearly 60,000 people a year in the U.S.
alone; in 1994, the Western hemisphere was certified poliovirus-free.
Improved hygienic measures reduced the prevalence of serious noncontagious illnesses. When the Baby Hospital—now Children’s Hospital
& Research Center at Oakland—was founded in 1912, diarrhea was the
leading cause of death in young children. Contaminated cow’s milk was
often the culprit, but with refrigeration, pasteurization and increased
medical understanding about the importance of keeping body fluids
balanced, fewer children died. Later, drugs such as penicillin, cortisone
and broad-spectrum antibiotics redefined pediatric illness. As the danger
from acute disease receded, attention turned to chronic diseases and
conditions. Today, trauma, not illness, is the country’s leading cause of
child and infant mortality. More children die from injuries than from the
next nine leading causes of death combined, including birth defects,
cancer, heart disease, pneumonia and meningitis.
Pediatrics today
Today, pediatricians face a multitude of medical challenges and
psychosocial problems in the patient population. Pediatric specialists
must focus on the prevention and treatment of modern ills such as
AIDS/HIV, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, venereal diseases,
adolescent pregnancy, and violence in schools and on the streets as well
as medical disciplines. Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland
provides clinical expertise in 30 specialties, from adolescent medicine to
urology, and leads research in immunology, hematology and other fields
that affect the quality of kids’ lives worldwide.
FA L L 2 0 0 2
19
H I S T O R Y O F P E D I AT R I C S
Along with the dramatic technological advances in
pediatric medicine, profound changes have evolved in the
philosophy of care. Until well into the second half of the
20th century, families were forbidden to see their hospitalized children outside of strict visiting hours. Now parents
or guardians are encouraged to stay with their children
around the clock when possible, making for calmer and
happier patients—and families. At Children’s Hospital
Oakland, kids are more involved in their own treatment than
even 10 years ago, as with chronic pain patients using a self-controlled
analgesic pump, resulting in less pain, less pain medication and a sense
of self-determination for the child. Same-day surgery for procedures
such as tonsillectomy or hernia repair disrupts family life much
less than overnight hospitalization. And today, children and their
families are provided support services such as the hospital
school program, child life specialists and social workers.
55
Visitor pass, 19
ICU
NAME:_____
__________
A basic right endangered
__________
DATE:__ __
But these remarkable advances in pediatric healthcare
/__ __/__ __
demonstrate a jarring dichotomy. While basic and clinical
pediatric research, as well as overall scientific advances, have
captured public imagination and expanded the horizon of
CHILDREN
possibilities, finances and socioeconomics threaten access to
’S HOSPIT
DO NOT PL
AL OAKLA
ACE ON LE
ND
ATHER OR
even day-to-day healthcare for many children in the United
SILK FABR
IC
States. Physicians, policymakers, parents and children face a
Visitor pass to
troubling paradox: when academic, scientific and technological advances
day
have made so much possible, what is available remains inaccessible to
thousands of children. It’s the responsibility of those who care about
kids—and the future—to make sure this paradox is resolved and quality
specialized healthcare, the legacy of history’s giant strides in pediatrics,
is available to every child.
20
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
90b i r t hd ay!
ital Oakland c
p
s
o
eleb
H
s
’
rate s
n
e
r
its
ih ld
C
th
It has been—and will continue to
be—our privilege and our passion to
offer the best of care to all children.
Many thanks to all who have
supported us throughout the years.
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
FA L L 2 0 0 2
Guillain-Barré (Ghee-yan Bah-
21
[ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 8 ]
ray) syndrome, also called acute
inflammatory demyelinating
polyneuropathy and Landry's
ascending paralysis, is an inflammatory disorder of the peripheral
nerves—those outside the brain
and spinal cord. It is characterized
by the rapid onset of weakness
and, often, paralysis of the legs,
arms, breathing muscles and face.
Although many cases are mild,
some patients are virtually paralyzed. Breathing muscles may be
so weakened that a machine is
required to keep the patient alive.
Many patients require intensive
care during the early course of
their illness. Although most people
recover, the length of the illness is
unpredictable and often months of
hospitalization are required. The
majority of patients eventually
return to a normal or near-normal
lifestyle, but many endure a protracted recovery and some remain
wheelchair-bound indefinitely.
The cause of GBS is not known.
Some cases occur shortly after a
microbial (viral or bacterial) infection such as a sore throat or diarrhea. Some theories suggest an
autoimmune mechanism, in which
the patient's defense system of
antibodies and white blood cells is
triggered into damaging the nerve
covering or insulation, leading to
weakness and abnormal sensation.
and the numbers may be An estimated 30 percent of
reports that he is
higher in children.
feeling better. The
adults who have spent time in nightmares have
Dardan had seen the
effects of violence on
mostly disapa war zone suffer from PTSD,
family and friends. He
peared, he says,
and
the
numbers
may
be
had faced soldiers who
and his heart
were ready to kill, and he higher in children.
never races like it
had been detained with
used to before. He
his mother and sister while his father
tells his parents that he loves “going to see
disappeared into the neutral zone at the
his doctors.” So does Vjollca, who fully
Macedonian border. His little sister—his
recovered from her illness.
inseparable companion—had been seriously
“It’s incredible, but true,” Rabit says.
ill and disabled. Now he was re-living what
“My children are joyous when they go to
he and his family had witnessed and
the hospital.” ★
endured.
During Dardan’s weekly play therapy
sessions with Dr. Libow, she tries to help
him engage in expressive play. “He is more
comfortable with structured, regulated
games, which is a sign of trying to contain
and control his emotions,” Dr. Libow
explains. “He’s very
non-competitive and
concerned about my
feelings. When we play
board games, for
example, he goes out
of his way to make
sure I win, too,” she
says. “It is just one
more way in which he
tries to take care of
those around him.
Dardan has
become more relaxed
in recent weeks. He
laughs at jokes and
often smiles. He can
speak directly about
the stresses of adjusting to a new culture
and learning a new
language at school. He
22
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
We may outgrow playing with
colorful plastic building blocks, but
even as adults we retain the desire to
build something meaningful. Join us as
we build the hospital of the future: a
welcoming child-friendly place where
all kids can receive the special care
they need.
By late 2003, visitors to Children’s
Hospital & Research Center at
Oakland will enter the hospital
through a beautiful plaza leading to a
welcoming and colorful reception
pavilion. The new family-friendly look
is part of the Western Expansion that is
enhancing the hospital’s critical care
services, which are vital to the wellbeing of our children.
The vibrant entry will feature bricks
and ceramic tiles that Children’s
Hospital friends, staff and volunteers
can purchase to pay tribute to—and
memorialize—loved ones or commemorate a special occasion. Twelve-inch
ceramic stars—with your special
Artist impression: Kai-Yee Woo & Associates
Building Blocks
to Honor
Loved Ones
Plaza floor with
pavers and bricks
message—will fit into a colorful tile
mosaic created by our young patients
through the Art for Life Artist in
Residence program, and will decorate
the plaza. Smaller ceramic tiles will
border a similar mosaic display in the
Emergency Department waiting area.
Sponsorship opportunities also include
12-inch square bricks and corner pavers
that will cover the plaza floor to welcome guests. Both the bricks and the
pavers can be custom engraved.
For more information on how to
leave a legacy for Northern California’s
children and become a part of
Children’s Hospital & Research Center
at Oakland by sponsoring a personalized tile, brick or paver, visit us online
at www.chofoundation.org or call
Jim Armstrong, Children’s Hospital
Foundation vice president at
510-428-3885 ext. 5394. ★
Ceramic Stars
Corner Paver
Plaza Brick
To learn more about giving opportunities at
Children’s Hospital, please contact Children’s
Hospital Foundation at 510-428-3814 or visit
www.chofoundation.org.
Holiday Cards
That Care
Did you ever wonder who lived in
the little white house wrapped by
Children’s Hospital Oakland’s parking
garage and Outpatient Center?
The house belonged to Lawrence
(Larry) Bossola, who lived there
from the time it was built in 1934. On
Aug. 10, 2001, he passed away. Larry, a
life-long North Oakland resident,
watched the hospital grow and develop. With Children’s expanding around
his house, Larry remained a friend of
the hospital and served as its honorary
ambassador.
Recently, Larry’s godson and friend,
Al Gavello, made a $25,000 gift to
Children’s in Larry’s memory. As a
child, Al was treated here, and he knew
how much his friend loved Children’s.
“The hospital was like Larry’s home.
I hope his memory will live on.”
We will remember Larry and are
grateful for the generosity of friends
like Al. ★
Every year hundreds of children
from throughout the Bay Area show
their support for the kids we treat by
entering colorful winter-inspired
artwork into the Children’s Hospital
Oakland Holiday Art Contest.
After 9-year-old Adriana, who
was diagnosed with leukemia, received
a bone marrow transplant here in July
2001, she and some friends from her
San Francisco Bay Girl Scout Troop
decided to enter the contest with their
paintings of surfing snowmen. Contest
judges were impressed with their
creativity, and their artwork was chosen
as one of 12 holiday cards in the
Children’s Hospital Oakland holiday
card collection. Proceeds from holiday
card sales go right back into helping
the hospital care for other kids just like
Adriana.
Adriana, her friends and her mom
are happy to be able to give back to the
hospital that made
Adriana’s cure and
recovery possible.
Adriana’s card,
along with the
full collection, is
available for purchase
in packs of 12 or in
larger corporate orders at
www.kidsholidaycards.org or by calling
510-428-3814. Custom imprinting is
available. ★
IN A FRIEND’S HONOR
Al Gavello (right) with James Jackson,
director, Environment of Care.
Close to 300 friends and supporters joined
Children’s Hospital Oakland Research
Institute senior scientists Bruce Ames, PhD,
and Giovanna Ferro-Luzzi Ames, PhD, for the
grand opening celebration of the landmark
Nutrition Genomics Center. Funded by
generous grants from the Ames Family
Foundation, the new center is dedicated to
studying nutrition’s effect on metabolism,
aging, obesity, and the prevention of
cancer and genetic diseases. The hospital
community is
grateful for good
friends and
benefactors like
the Ameses.
Holiday card
Photo courtesy of Children’s Hospital Foundation
Giving in Memory
of Larry Bossola
23
Photo courtesy of Peg Supinski
FA L L 2 0 0 2
The Second Annual KBLX For Kids Radiothon
was a huge success, raising $220,000 in
pledges! Morning show host Kevin Brown’s
live broadcast from the hospital brought
together patients, families, caregivers,
volunteers and donors. Change Bandits like
little Eric (above) donated loose change for
a big return. A special thank you goes to our
lead Radiothon sponsor, the Foresters, a
non-profit financial services organization
serving as international title sponsor of the
Children’s Miracle Network Radiothon
program.
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
Photo by Vanya Rainova
24
spends less than 10 cents for every dollar
raised. We know our money goes to the
care of kids, not for solicitation of funds.”
Bill graduated from Stanford with a
degree in economics. He worked with
The Clorox Company in Oakland,
retiring as executive vice president of
corporate affairs, after 35 years of service,
many as a member of the board of
directors. Dottie, a University of Kansas
graduate with a degree in business and a
BILL AND DOTTIE TOWERS
I N T H E I R F A M I LY H O M E I N
M O R A G A , C A L I F. “What we want
most for our children is to grow with a
generosity of spirit.” Bill and Dottie
Towers established an endowment fund
to support Children’s Hospital and to
inspire philanthropic behaviors in their
children and grandchildren.
Donors Nur ture a Family Tradition o
& Research Center Foundation, selecting
the hospital as one of two organizations to
which they now make major contributions
every year. The endowment is a permanent
fund, annual income from which will be
used for the greatest pediatric care needs of
the hospital.
“We were giving money to many charities, but not enough to make a dent in any
of them,” Bill explains. “So we decided to
make significant gifts to fewer organizations, and Children’s was our first choice.”
Two reasons influenced their decision: the
hospital’s indispensable role in the community and the financial profile of the
foundation. “We’ve observed and experienced Children’s first-hand and were
impressed with their work and the broad
spectrum of population the hospital
served; it was important to us that there
was no discrimination in race, class or
ethnicity,’ the Towers say. “But we were
also impressed with the financial record of
the foundation, which over the years
minor in journalism, has worked as
an editor and
reporter for several
Bay Area publications.
The Towers have
traveled extensively
throughout the
world, but their
dearest wish remains
modest. “What we
want most is for our
children and their
families to grow
with a generosity in
spirit. We try to set as good an example
as possible.”
And they do. The value of Bill and
Dottie’s gift extends beyond their support
of Children’s: with it they offer a priceless
gift to their family by teaching them the
philosophy and culture of philanthropy.
The Towers say they “just married,” but
Photo couresy of XX
Upon hearing the story of the family
of Albanian refugees whose children,
Vjollca and Dardan, received care at
Children’s Hospital & Research Center at
Oakland (see Family Care on page 6),
Bill and Dottie Towers pronounced it
“definitely more worthy of the pages of
HandPrints” than their story. But the two
stories are intertwined: Vjollca’s care and
treatment alone cost close to $87,000. The
family’s Medicaid insurance covered some
of the expense, and Children’s absorbed
the rest. It is the philanthropic spirit and
generosity of people like Bill and Dottie—
and their family—that ensure our ability
to provide excellent care to all children
today, and in the future. The Towers’ story
is just as important as the Rexhepis’.
Bill and Dottie have supported
Children’s Hospital Oakland—along with
many other local non-profit organizations
—for many years. But recently, they established The William M. and Dorothy Wise
Towers Endowment at Children’s Hospital
FA L L 2 0 0 2
indeed that was 27 years ago. Between the two
of them, Bill and Dottie have six children, 21
grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
On holidays, instead of receiving presents from
their family, Bill and Dottie ask them to contribute to their endowment at the foundation.
“We have given generously to our children,
and they want to give back to us. But we
really don’t need anything, and what we need,
we buy,” the Towers say. “So we thought the
endowment would be a nice outlet for them,
and some have really gotten into the whole
act.” Last year, the endowment received additional gifts from their children and grandchildren. The youngest Towers to contribute is just
5 years old, and he donated $50 dollars from
his piggybank. The tradition of philanthropy
has certainly caught on in the Towers family
through their endowment fund. ★
f Philanthropy
25
In a market filled with uncertainties,
a gift that guarantees payments for life
In these financially uncertain times, wouldn’t it be wonderful to receive
guaranteed payments for life in exchange for a charitable gift? That’s the way
a Children’s Hospital & Research Center Foundation gift annuity works.
Not only will you have the satisfaction of helping children get the best
medical care, you will also receive an annuity backed by all the assets of this
charity. For older donors, the annuity rates are often substantially higher
than the returns on CDs, money market funds, stocks and bonds.
Here are sample rates currently in effect:
Single Person
Married Couple
AGE
RATE
AGE
RATE
65
70
75
80
85
6.7%
7.2%
7.9%
8.9%
10.4%
65/65
70/70
75/75
80/80
85/85
6.3%
6.6%
7.0%
7.0%
8.7%
Example: Ethel Smith, 85 years old, has common stock in a company that
pays her a dividend of 2 percent per year. Ethel’s $10,000 worth of stock
provides her with a quarterly check of only $50—a total of $200 a year.
Ethel can transfer this stock to the foundation in exchange for a gift annuity.
With a rate of 10.4 percent, she will receive $260 each quarter or $1,040
each year. She will also enjoy a charitable income tax deduction of $4,848
(based on the August 2002 applicable federal rate).
In addition to guaranteed payments, a gift annuity provides other benefits,
including:
• A significant charitable tax deduction
• Payments that are partially tax-free
• An annuity rate often higher than the interest paid on current fixed
investments
• Capital gains tax savings when the donor is one of the annuitants
• The satisfaction of helping restore children to good health
A PA R T O F T H E T O W E R S
F A M I LY G AT H E R E D A R O U N D
T H E C H R I S T M A S T R E E On
holidays, instead of receiving presents
from their family, Bill and Dottie ask
their children and grandchildren to
make gifts to the “family endowment
fund” at the foundation.
Our gift annuity donors also become members of the Legacy for Children’s
Care. These forward-thinking people are our partners in planning for the
care of coming generations of children. Their gift annuities and other
planned gifts ensure that vital resources are in the pipeline to help Children’s
Hospital carry its mission into the future. In recognition of their foresight
and generosity, the names of these donors are included in the new Legacy
Memorial located in the atrium of the Outpatient Center and published in
the annual Honor Roll of Donors. Donors are also invited to the annual
Legacy Celebration, the Chairman’s Circle Dinner, What’s Up Doc?
Luncheon and other invitation-only events throughout the year.
Would you like to learn more about Children’s Hospital’s gift annuity
program? Emily De Falla, Vice President of Children’s Hospital & Research
Center Foundation, can provide a tailor-made illustration showing you
exactly how a gift annuity can work for you. Please call 510-428-3362.
This is not legal advice. Any prospective donor should seek the advice of a qualified legal, estate
and/or tax professional to determine the consequences of his/her gift.
26
CHILDREN’S HANDPRINTS
IN THEIR
[ C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 ]
Own
WORDS
“first picture” of our daughter to
deliver to me. How thoughtful
of them to do something so simple that meant the world to me!
On my first visit with her,
Macey lay intubated. I remember seeing her heart race on the
monitor and asking why. “She’s
crying,” they told me, “but
because she’s intubated, there’s
no sound.” I watched the nurses
take care of her, wanting so
badly to hear the sound of her
crying.
Thinking about how we were
going to afford all the medical
expenses made me sick to my
stomach. But a social worker,
Darby Schouten, MSW,
came to our rescue. “Don’t
worry,” she told us, “whatever
your insurance doesn’t cover and
pital Macey’s nurse, Dotty Walczak,
you cannot pay, Children’s Hospital will,
RN, told me to stop crying because this
so just focus on your daughter.” She set
was a happy time, and it truly was.
up a counselor to help us get through
Children’s staff came to
this tumultuous
the rescue of our daughtime; she made lacter and family, yet they
In 2001, Children's
tation and “well
never asked for anything
health” appointHospital Oakland’s
but for me to focus on
ments for me.
Intensive Care Nursery our daughter’s health.
As the days
Today, Macey is a
passed, Macey
cared for close to 600
happy
and healthy 2made huge strides.
year-old.
We endure the
newborns
and
infants.
One by one, all the
ups and downs of partubes, wires and
enthood, but her crying
ventilators were
doesn’t
bother
me.
Instead, it gives me a
removed. On the 10th day, she received
sense of peace and faith because hearing
a clean bill of health, and we could head
it means she’s healthy.
home and be parents. As we left the hos-
w w w. c h i l d re n s h o s p i t a l o a k l a n d . o rg
R E U N I T E D Macey and ICN nurse
Dotty Walczak, RN, having a womanto-woman chat at the 2002 Intensive
Care Nursery Reunion.
I often remember Dotty’s words
before we drove away: “Kim, this is a
time you’ll never forget and Macey will
never remember,” she said. “So go home
and enjoy your daughter.” I thank God
and Children’s Hospital for that. ★
FA L L 2 0 0 2
Who’s For Kids
and Who’s Just Kidding?
You know things are not well
when in the world’s wealthiest country more than 10 million children
lack health coverage. But when federal
and state officials try to patch the budget
deficits by dipping into funds essential
for providing care to all children,
something’s gone terribly wrong.
More than 50 percent of the children served by the nation’s pediatric facilities
receive Medicaid, which reimburses, on average,
70 cents per dollar of actual cost of care. More
and more of the remaining expense is absorbed
by children’s hospitals which struggle to maintain the fragile balance between their commitment to delivering the best care to all children
and the complex economic circumstances that
threaten this mission. It’s never been an easy job,
but recent unprecedented state and federal
budget cuts have placed our most vulnerable citizens— and the institutions that serve them—at
great risk.
Consider the facts:
• The federal government allots disproportionate
share hospital (DSH) funding to states to be
distributed to eligible hospitals such as
Children’s Hospital & Research Center at
Oakland. Since 1998, federal DSH funding to
children’s hospitals has been reduced by $40
million, and more cuts are slated for next year.
• In addition, Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tommy Thompson has slashed the
Upper Payment Limit (UPL) reimbursement
to hospitals by 30 percent effective May 14.
The UPL helps offset the low reimbursement
rates provided by MediCal. California’s
children’s hospitals could lose as much as $80
million per year as a result of this cut.
• At the state level, fewer Californians will
qualify for MediCal because the threshold
income eligibility is being dropped from
$15,000 per year to $9800 per year (at
$4.71/hour, a rate well below even the
minimum wage).
27
President & Chief Executive Officer
Tony Paap
• In addition, families will need to re-enroll
for MediCal benefits several times a year
instead of annually. This will generate an
enormous amount of paperwork for hospitals
and the state, which hopes that families will
fail to sign up for benefits and thus be
dropped from the system, “saving” money.
• The state budget also rolls back physician
reimbursement rates to 1982 levels—an
entire generation ago. Consider the numbers:
the average MediCal visit now reimbursed at
$20 will drop to $16. The effect of this cut is
that fewer physicians will be able to care for
MediCal patients.
• The state will “rake off ” an administrative fee
of already-reduced federal DSH dollars
intended to go to hospitals, to the tune of $55
million dollars (though the cost of administering the program statewide is only about $1
million).
Senior Vice President,
External Relations
Mary L. Dean
What is the potential impact of these
combined cuts? Under the present circumstances
Children’s Hospital Oakland is faced with a
terrible choice. Continuing to provide all the
services needed by the kids today puts at risk the
hospital’s ability to provide even reduced services
to the kids of the future. But, if Children’s
cannot provide the care needed by all kids in our
community, who will?
From minor scrapes to major illnesses,
Children’s meets the needs of more than
176,000 kids who visit the hospital annually.
This number itself is impressive, but more
important are the 176,000 stories of pain and
hope, crisis and recovery, worry and compassion.
Any of these children could be a child you
know. For many of them, Children’s offers the
only access to quality healthcare. We cannot,
and must not, let these children fall through the
cracks.
There is only one reason for a child to be
sent home from the hospital: because they are
better. To shut the door on a helpless child during a time of crisis would be unconscionable. ★
Children’s Hospital & Research Center
at Oakland Board of Directors
Harold Davis, Chairman
Pamela Cocks, Vice Chair
Arthur D’Harlingue, MD, Vice Chair
Robert C. Goshay, PhD, Vice Chair
Edward Ahearn, MD
William Byrne, MD
Jeffrey Cheung
Michael Duncheon, Esq.
Legal Counsel
Steven Feldman, MD
Donald Godbold, PhD
James Hanson, MD
Seymour Harris, MD
Irma Herrera
Hyacinth Hewan
Howard Jackson
Watson M. Laetsch, PhD
Barbara May
Alden McElrath
Masud Mehran
Linda Murphy
Betty Jo Olson
Tony Paap
Rudolph Peterson
Harold C. Warner, PhD
Chester Weseman, MD
Steven Yedlin, MD
For more information about how you can become an advocate for children,
contact Mary L. Dean, Senior Vice President, External Relations at 510-428-3464.
Senior Vice President &
Medical Director
William Byrne, MD
Senior Vice President, Research
Burt Lubin, MD
Vice President,
Patient Care Services
Valerie Roberts, RN
Vice President, Ancillary &
Support Services
James Jackson
Vice President, Legal & Risk
Management
Marva Furmidge, Esq.
Vice President, Chief Information
Officer
Don Livsey
Interim Vice President & Chief Financial
Officer
Roger Roux
Interim Senior Vice President &
Chief Operations Officer
Dave Bertauski
Story requests, comments or suggestions for
Children’s HandPrints may be e-mailed directly
to Vanya Rainova ([email protected]), or
sent to 665 Fifty Third Street, Oakland, CA
94609.
who's for kids
and who's just kidding?
On Oct. 24, 2002, Children’s Hospital & Research Center at
Oakland will host a day-long summit on children’s health.
Focusing on the relationship between health and education
and the importance of community partnerships in
maximizing the effect of available services, the summit
will combine panel discussions with opportunities for
participants to share ideas and insights, and develop a
partnership vision and action plans for children’s health
and well-being.
For further information, please contact:
Mary L. Dean, Senior Vice President, External Relations,
at 510-428-3464.
www.childrenshospitaloakland.org
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Oakland, CA
Permit No. 3
747 Fifty Second Street
Oakland, CA 94609-1809