Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 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
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.
Vice President, Member Relations,
Marketing and Communications
Michelle Lunbeck

Living the promise
We have much to learn from the children we serve.

e began 2018 as we spent much of
2017-raising our collective voice to
encourage Congress to do what's right for
the nation's children. The Children's Health
Insurance Program (CHIP), with a strong 20year track record of providing health care
for millions of children, seemed like a nobrainer; a bipartisan program the House and
Senate supported. Research showed nearly
90 percent of Americans also supported its
reauthorization. Working families in every
state were fearful their children's health
insurance would disappear overnight, until
a six-year CHIP extension finally passed in
January after multiple delays.
We can do better by our children. At
Cook Children's we are committed to Our
Promise: to improve the health of children
through the prevention and treatment of
illness, disease and injury. It permeates all
that we are and all that we do every day in
our hospital, throughout our health system
and in the communities we serve. We amplify our promise, and our potential for
impact is greater, when we stand together
with children's hospitals nationally.
The challenges of protecting Medicaid and
CHIP in the last year have ushered in a new
reality. And this new reality needs transformative solutions for the funding and
delivery of health care for children. For our
nation's children's hospitals, this is job one.
As we move into 2018, our priorities are twofold. First, we must defend, yet think beyond,
current programs and funding streams for
children's health care. Our aim is a long-term
strategy and policy solution that invests in the
health and well-being of children-our future.
Second, we must continue to evolve and transform the delivery system for children.
By harnessing the power of data, collaboration and shared knowledge, we are

capable of moving the needle-making care
better, improving health outcomes and reducing the cost of care. Health policy is best
informed by demonstrable results, and we
must bring these forward.
At times like these, we have much to
learn from the children we serve. When I
look in their eyes, I see resilience, hope and
an unwavering trust in what is good and
right. Changing practice and influencing
policy will be a long-term, sustained effort,
and we must be resolute in our determination to see it through.
In 2018, we must walk shoulder to shoulder with a renewed sense of purpose and
passion, and carry the children with us.

RICK W. MERRILL
President and CEO
Cook Children's Health Care System
Chair, CHA Board of Trustees

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL S TODAY Winter 2018

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