Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2018 - 3

CHA VOICES / CHECKING IN

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chair
Rick W. Merrill
Cook Children's Health Care System
Vice Chair/Chair Elect
Kurt Newman, M.D.
Children's National Health System
Secretary
Sandra L. Fenwick
Boston Children's Hospital
Treasurer
Kimberly Cripe
Childrenʼs Hospital of Orange County
Board Members
Michael D. Aubin, FACHE
Wolfson Children's Hospital
Madeline Bell
The Childrenʼs Hospital of Philadelphia
Susan M. Distefano, RN,
M.S.N., NEA-BC
Children's Memorial
Hermann Hospital
Marcy Doderer, FACHE
Arkansas Children's Hospital
Paul A. King
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
University of Michigan
John D. Nash, FACHE
Franciscan Children's
Jeff Sperring, M.D.
Seattle Children's
Katy A. Welkie, RN, B.S.N., MBA
Primary Children's Hospital
Mark Wietecha
Childrenʼs Hospital Association

LEADERSHIP
President and CEO
Mark Wietecha
Chief Operating Officer
Amy Knight
Chief Financial Officer
Nancy Stahl
Vice President, Public Policy
Jim Kaufman, Ph.D.

Raising our voices together
Priority number one is providing the best care to kids.

oday, challenges to children's health are
everywhere. Issues like opioid addiction, suicide, gun violence, hurricanes, child
abuse, poverty, obesity, immigration and
lead toxicity dominate the news and reflect
a reality that disproportionately affects
children. These issues shape their lifelong
physical and emotional health. Children are
among our most vulnerable populations,
and their homes, schools and communities
are integral to their development.
As a children's hospital community, we consider how we rise to these challenges and how
we define our role in making things better. Do
we engage with flash points as they emerge,
or do we undertake sustained campaigns on
specific issues? Do we apply smaller efforts
broadly, or do we focus on a few areas where
we may have a greater influence? These are
questions we frequently weigh.
We know our first priority is to provide
the best care for the children and families
we serve. We represent the promise of care,
cures and hope for them.
To support this, we must protect and enhance funding for children's health through
Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance
Program. The availability of pediatric specialists is also paramount to our ability to
serve children, and our efforts in support
of Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical
Education ensure funding for more than half
the nation's pediatric residents. We've been
successful in this advocacy, and it's vital we
stay focused on continuing this work.
We also work together to improve the
practice of children's health care within our
hospitals and communities. We focus on children with complex or chronic medical conditions, populations for which children's hospitals are positioned to drive improvement
in health care and outcomes. Similarly, more

than 50 hospitals are collaborating to reduce
sepsis morbidity and mortality. Sepsis kills
more children than cancer, and we can positively influence pediatric sepsis outcomes
from the home to the intensive care unit.
Beyond our campuses, we play essential
roles in our communities and nationally,
too. This includes collaboration and research on addressing the social, emotional
and economic challenges to health. While
we cannot address every issue and have a
meaningful effect, we can still do our part
as pediatric health care experts.
Thanks for working with us to advance
our shared priorities and improve the health
and health care of our nation's children.
Be well!

MARK WIETECHA
President and CEO
Children's Hospital Association

Vice President, Member Relations,
Marketing and Communications
Michelle Lunbeck

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL S TODAY Spring 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2018