Report to the Community Planned for Nov. 30
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will host its second annual Report to the Community from 11:30 am to 1 pm, Tuesday, November 30, in which the 2004 Cincinnati Children's annual report will be shared with community leaders. The event will take place in the Sabin Education Center (Location D), Fifth Third Bank Auditorium, 3333 Burnet Ave.
This year's report focuses on advances in research at Cincinnati Children's and the transformation of health care by applying cutting-edge research to medicine.
Highlights from the meeting include:
- Opening remarks by Lee A. Carter, chairman
- James M. Anderson, president and CEO, will address advances in translational medicine that are changing the outcome for children.
- Two videos featuring individual patient stories will be shown: "Predicting a Better Future for Children with Epilepsy" and "Ready to Save Lives Worldwide: The Rotavirus Vaccine."
Highlights from the annual report include:
- The Genetic Pharmacology Service is an example in which Cincinnati Children's is accelerating the transfer of scientific knowledge to clinical practice in order to change the outcome for children in a safe, effective and efficient manner.
The service, which was launched August 2, provides clinicians the ability to test 37 commonly used medications against four well defined genes. Testing these genes will help clinicians determine how patients will respond to certain prescribed medications.
The Genetic Pharmacology Service is reflective of a new direction in medicine. In coming years, as more genes are identified and mapped, clinicians will be able to test more genes against drug interaction.
There are a number of reasons why the service is important, one being that 100,000 people die each year as a result of adverse reactions to medications. Furthermore, 10 percent of health care spending in the United States is associated with adverse reactions to prescription drugs.
- In July 2004, Mexico became the first country in the world to approve a rotavirus vaccine that was developed and tested by Richard Ward, PhD, and David Bernstein, MD. Dr. Ward began research on rotavirus infections in 1981, soon after he joined the J.N. Gamble Institute for Medical Research, which is now part of the Cincinnati Children's Division of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Bernstein began collaborating with Dr. Ward when he joined the Gamble Institute in 1983. The vaccine is currently being tested in other Latin American countries.
Rotavirus is a deadly infection that can cause severe diarrhea in children. Most children will contract the rotavirus infection at least once before age five. According to the World Health Organization, rotavirus infections are one of the leading infectious disease killers in the world.
The vaccine's development and approval represents a noteworthy accomplishment for Cincinnati Children's because it has the potential to save millions of lives throughout the world. Very few vaccines make it from the laboratory to licensure.
- Construction: In 2004, Cincinnati Children's broke ground for a 12-story, $125 million, 415,000-square-foot building for research and physician offices. The building is scheduled to open in 2007. It will house physician and research laboratories, including the Computational Medicine Center, a research collaborative with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
Financial highlights include:
- Assets: Total assets have grown from $1.4 million in fiscal year '03 to $1.7 million in fiscal year '04.
- Total operating revenue: Has grown from $670,790,000 in fiscal year '03 to $866,757,000 in fiscal year '04.
- Net Operating Revenue: Has grown from $5,472,000 in fiscal year '03 to $19,516,000 in fiscal year '04.
Statistical highlights:
- Patient encounters (including admissions, ED visits, Regional Center for Newborn Intensive Care admissions): 761,482 in fiscal year '04 as compared to 711,290 in fiscal year '03.
- Outpatient visits: 616,389 in fiscal year '04 as compared to 567,373 in fiscal year '03.
- Total number of employees: 7,782 in fiscal year '04 as compared to 7,207 in fiscal year '03.
Contact Information
Amy Reyes,
amy.reyes@cchmc.org, 513-636-6984
