Pushing the Boundaries of Knowledge
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Contents of the 2004 Annual Report
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Welcome
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Letter from our CEO and chairman of the
board |
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Saving lives around the world with a new
vaccine |
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Seeking better outcomes for children with a
devastating disease |
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Increasing patient comfort and reducing medical
complications |
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Innovation in process improves medication
safety |
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Researchers invent an intelligent
hemofiltration system |
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Learning to predict the best medicine for each
patient |
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Board of trustees and senior management |
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Financial report and statistical
highlights |
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Gifts to Cincinnati Children's |
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Dear Friends:
The title of our last annual report
was "Transforming Health Care." That could well be the title of
this year's report — and next year's and the year after that.
At Cincinnati Children's, "transformation" is not the flavor of the
year. It's an ongoing commitment.
The realization that the health care delivery system needs
fundamental change to improve outcomes for patients has been
growing since 1999, when the prestigious Institute of Medicine issued a sobering report saying
that many thousands of Americans die each year as a result of
medical errors in hospitals. Cincinnati Children's was one of the
nation's first hospitals to accept the challenge of making
transformative change. We are proud to be a leader in the effort to
transform health care delivery, not just at our hospital but around
the world.
How can we dramatically improve outcomes for children Thomas Boat, MD,
chairman of the Department of
Pediatrics and director of the Cincinnati Children's
Research Foundation, puts the answer simply and aptly: We must
improve what we do and how we do it.
Cincinnati Children's is investing resources to do both.
We are working hard to improve processes and systems — the
"how" of health care delivery. We are committed to building,
implementing and sustaining reliable systems that deliver better
outcomes for patients and better experiences for families.
But no matter how efficient and compassionate we may be,
improving how we deliver care is not enough. To change the outcome
for sick and injured children, we must improve what we do. We need
to find better, safer, more effective therapies and preventive
strategies.
Changing what we do for children is the arena of research and
the subject of this year's annual report.
As you will read in this report, some of the extraordinary
research done at Cincinnati Children's has culminated in medical
strides that are making a difference for children today, here in
our community and around the world. Other pioneering research is
beginning, offering the hope of healthier lives for tomorrow's
children.
Cincinnati Children's is investing dramatically to push the
boundaries of knowledge. In 2004, after years of careful planning,
we broke ground for a $125 million
building that will add 415,000 square feet of space for research
and physician offices when it opens in 2007.
This new tower will stand on the site of the first building on
our main campus. Just as the old Children's Hospital building
represented a great leap forward for our growing institution when
it opened in 1926, our new building represents a giant step forward
for our growing research program.
Please read on to learn more about our talented researchers and
the children who motivate all of us at Cincinnati Children's to do
all we can to transform health care and improve child health.
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Lee A. Carter
Chairman, Board of Trustees
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James M.
Anderson
President and Chief Executive Officer
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