Editor, Times-Dispatch: I read with interest the pro and con columns on under the label “A New Children’s Hospital for Virginia,” by Drs. Keith Derco and David Lanning regarding pediatric care in Richmond. I am a member of PACKids, but today I am writing as a passionate advocate for kids, a physician who has worked at children’s hospitals for 10 years, and as a father. The opinions are my own. While it is true that many wonderful things are occurring at Children’s Hospital of Richmond (CHoR) at VCU, by comparing ourselves to other cities of similar size it is apparent that we are lagging behind. Birmingham, Ala., is close to completing a $435 million expansion to its 275-bed children’s hospital. Little Rock, Ark., has a 316-bed children’s hospital, and Akron, Ohio, has a freestanding children’s hospital with more than 250 beds. We have a tremendous opportunity, with generous philanthropic support, to develop a world-class children’s health care system, with a freestanding, independent children’s hospital as its centerpiece. Benefactors have decided to support an independent children’s hospital with its own financial foundation and governance structure, similar to those above as well as other top-ranked children’s hospitals. Lanning says we should not proceed with this endeavor because it would be disruptive to the mission of CHoR. I submit that now is the time to be disruptive and transformational to bring the best care possible to the children in the community. We are overdue. It is past time that we step forward, leaving our own personal and institutional interests behind, to bring forth the best care possible for our children. All parents... read more
RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Dr. Melissa Nelson of PACKids – Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids – and Bruce Kupper, President & CEO of MEDARVA Healthcare, share insight on the mission dedicated to bringing a new, freestanding children’s hospital to the Richmond area. Virginia This Morning: Children’s health (WTVR CBS 6, June 5,... read more
A new, freestanding children’s hospital in the Richmond area is financially feasible and would be supported by the market, according to a study presented this week to local health care providers. The report by management consulting firm Kurt Salmon envisions a $500 million, 200-bed hospital. It would be an independent nonprofit governed by a 15-member board of directors. The report provides backing for a group of pediatricians and other health professionals in the area who have sought community support for a full-service hospital strictly for pediatric care. “Our next step is to bring this to the community and to those that wish to participate,” said Dr. Ted Abernathy, a local pediatrician and chairman of Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids, or PACKids, a nonprofit formed to advance the idea. According to the study, about $150 million in philanthropic support would be needed to develop the hospital; debt would finance the rest. Operating in a service area encompassing nearly one million children in Virginia, the hospital would generate $370 million in revenue by 2022, according to the study. The study, which Abernathy said made conservative assumptions, concludes that the hospital would generate net margins of nearly 7 percent even without Medicare Disproportional Share Hospital funding to treat indigent patients. “That is the question that everybody has been asking us,” he said. “We won’t know that until we really determine who is going to participate in this hospital with us, what we need and where we will get those services.” PACKids has been advocating a pediatric hospital that would be larger and provide more comprehensive care than Children’s Hospital of Richmond... read more
The premise that Richmond sorely needs a dedicated, comprehensive, critical-care children’s hospital meets with little objection from any of the three major hospital groups that have participated in talks about the idea during the past year. But as the group of pediatric care providers organized around the cause pledges to press forward with creating such a hospital, the jury is still out on whether these conversations will result in the sort of local collaboration envisioned by the group, called PACKids, for Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids. Though initially supportive of a freestanding hospital, VCU Medical Center and, more recently, HCA Virginia Health System indicate they will not sign on to the current proposal, which would mean ceding many of their pediatric services to an independently governed facility. Despite those developments, the group of physicians leading the talks is determined to make its case to the public. “It’s important to explain what we want and how that’s different than what we have right now,” says Jennifer Scott, a PACKids spokeswoman who also serves alongside the doctors on the group’s leadership committee. Few local health care professionals say that Richmond lacks world-class, comprehensive pediatric services. But having those services dispersed throughout the community — in private practices, specialty centers and various hospitals — can cause hardships for children and families already traumatized by a child’s illness. “This needs an integrated strategy; they’re right on that,” says Roice Luke, professor emeritus in VCU’s Department of Health Administration. After reviewing regional statistics on pediatric hospitalization at Richmond magazine’s request, he concludes that as a practical matter, VCU and PACKids must return to... read more
The Richmond area needs a new, freestanding, pediatric hospital, the chief executive officer of Bon Secours Health System Virginia said Tuesday. Speaking at the University of Richmond, Bon Secours Virginia CEO Peter Bernard also said the not-for-profit hospital system is planning an expansion of its St. Francis Medical Center in Chesterfield County. And he said the health system’s policy of not hiring people who test positive for tobacco use has been received well. A group of pediatricians in the area organized under the name Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids has been seeking to open a full-service children’s hospital that would operate independently or in partnership with a hospital system. Bernard said Bon Secours supports the idea of a children’s hospital, which he said has been studied enough. “It is the right thing to do,” he said. “The care for kids in this community is fragmented,” he said. “Certain kids fall through the cracks. A number of children need to go to other locations for their care because it is not provided here.” The pediatrician group has said it wants a hospital that provides more comprehensive care than the Children’s Hospital of Richmond on Brook Road in North Richmond, which became part of the VCU Health System in July 2010. Bernard said a summit is being planned for the spring to further discuss the children’s hospital proposal. Richard Coughlan, senior associate dean at University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, interviewed Bernard on a wide range of topics from leadership and decision-making to the company’s strategy including its stance on a children’s hospital. His interview was part of the... read more
More than 100 pediatricians from the Richmond region have banded together with one thing in mind — a free-standing hospital where medical care is available only for children, and all under one roof. Such a facility would have made Leigh Bernard’s life far less complicated. “My 9-year-old twins, Taylor and Sydney, were born prematurely in a Richmond hospital in 2001,” Bernard says. “Taylor sustained a birth injury, which caused cerebral palsy. I was told she would never walk, to give up.” Instead of giving up, Bernard has taken Taylor to six states, besides Virginia, seeking medical care she couldn’t find in Richmond. Taylor, who sees six physicians and three other specialists in support care, did walk at 5 but is now relegated to a motorized wheelchair, with the goal of using a walker. “We don’t have a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach in one place here; therefore, the care isn’t optimal,” Bernard says. “Most children with disabilities also have other issues, like nutrition. That’s why it’s so important to have secondary services available.” A full-service children’s hospital has been discussed in Richmond for at least 40 years. Dr. Ted Abernathy, who established a practice here 37 years ago, is one of the leaders of PACK: Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids, formed in March. “We envision a campus with inpatient and outpatient care, medical offices, accommodations for parents, healing gardens, a petting zoo and a playground,” he says. “We’re in the process of creating the Virginia Children’s Hospital Foundation,” Abernathy continues. “We hope all of the area hospital systems participate with us to make this dream a reality. The next step... read more
All Children Need Children’s Hospitals provides a data-rich snapshot of how children’s hospitals, together with the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), achieve their four-fold mission of clinical care, education, research and advocacy. Whether critically ill or healthy, privately insured, reliant on public safety net programs or uninsured, all children benefit from children’s hospitals.The report also highlights critical challenges facing children’s hospitals today – challenges that NACHRI is striving to address and that should be of concern to everyone who wants to make sure children’s hospitals, pediatricians and pediatric specialists are there for their children and for all children today and in the future. All Children Need Children’s Hospitals (NACHRI, July... read more
BY TINA AND WALLACE B. MILLNER and MARY AND C.M. KINLOCH NELSON | Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 12:05 am The children in central Virginia need an excellent children’s hospital: a freestanding facility that consolidates all of the Richmond area’s pediatric medical care into one location. Our 250,000 children deserve a hospital that provides dedicated and comprehensive care by medical teams trained specifically to address their needs. Research clearly proves that children’s hospitals provide safer and more efficient care. Such hospitals attract and retain the best pediatric specialists and provide opportunities to train our future health care professionals. We all understand the fear and uncertainty of caring for a sick child. Now imagine being the parent and having to decide where to take your child in an emergency type situation. The truth is, in Richmond, you could pick the wrong hospital. You could arrive at a hospital that does not have a pediatrics department at all. You could bring your sick child to an emergency department that does not have the specialist your child needs. Over the years, we have tried many times to build a true children’s hospital, and we have failed in each attempt. This time we must work together to create a freestanding facility that consolidates pediatric care. Richmond is the largest metropolitan area in the United States without such a hospital for our children. In Richmond, parents often must drive their seriously ill child from hospital to hospital to get their child’s care pieced together. We now have an opportunity to change this: ¤ 250 pediatric doctors in the Richmond area signed a pledge to... read more
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Walter E. Bundy Jr, M.D., was a highly respected pediatrician in Richmond. He did not identify exclusively with Richmond’s academic pediatricians or with his community colleagues, but considered the two groups complementary and worked comfortably within both environments. In 1997, he was honored with the creation of a named chair funded through contributions of the Richmond community. As Bundy Professors of Community Pediatrics, we provide a link between the VCU Department of Pediatrics and community pediatricians. This position endows us with a unique perspective on the discussions to build a freestanding, full-service, independent hospital for children. Recently published letters incompletely present the children’s hospital story and how pediatric care is provided in Richmond. Currently three different hospital systems provide nearly equal amounts of pediatric inpatient health care. This fractured environment is a barrier to creating a single entity exclusively dedicated to children. An independently governed, freestanding, full-service children’s hospital would be the center of a health care system just for children that would provide high-quality care, teaching, research, advocacy and community outreach. Well-researched data have shown that this children’s hospital system is financially achievable and sustainable. Obstacles and concerns abound, but there is passion and money to build this hospital now. Richmond is the only metropolitan area of our size in the nation without a full-service hospital for children. We doctors who have served as Bundy Professors —Harry L. Gewanter, J. Mark Shreve, Peter Mellis, Bob A. Archuleta, Gayle Schrier Smith, Robert Shayne and Phil Dawson — have strived to represent children and their physicians as would Dr. Bundy. His dream was to see a single children’s... read more
What it Could Mean for Your Family. Richmond is fortunate to have great health care providers,” says Melissa Nelson, MD, a Richmond pediatrician and mother of four, “but as a pediatrician, I don’t have one place I can tell families to take their children for everything. I’m sending them all over town.” Dr. Nelson is one of the board members of Pediatricians Associated to Care for Kids (PACKids), a group of doctors united to establish a hospital in Richmond that is exclusively for children. Dr. Nelson estimates there are close to two hundred pediatricians behind the mission of PACKids. Richmond has no shortage of great pediatric health care, but children who are hospitalized here are placed in pediatric units of hospitals that are made for adults. Interim steps to provide enhanced children’s services across the area include VCU Health System’s Children’s Pavilion, a new structure on the MCV campus exclusively for children that will consolidate outpatient services in one central location and include parking. In addition, next month Bon Secours will open its expanded pediatric emergency department at St. Mary’s, which will have a dedicated entrance, waiting room, and triage area just for pediatric patients. For now, however, instead of relying on one pediatric headquarters, families often find themselves driving from one end of town to another. The PACKids’ mission to bring a full-service inpatient and outpatient hospital to Richmond gained some traction in the spring, when a feasibility study indicated that a 200-bed children’s hospital would not only be supported by the regional market, but would also bring $370 million in revenue by 2022. Coordination of Care Consolidating... read more
An Open Letter To The People Who Give Out Certificates of Public Need (COPNs): I would like to have a new hospital for the children. The children of Richmond and central Virginia NEED a new hospital. I know most of my colleagues feel the same way. We are pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists, and we practice in three different pediatric departments on three different floors of THREE different adult hospitals. This setup has ‘sort of’ met the needs of the children over the years. With all due respect, you approved all these pediatric hospital beds in different places when there wasn’t an option to put them under one roof. No problem. I understand that we all have to play the hand that’s dealt to us. But today’s a new day. There is an option on the table that would allow us doctors to put all the healthcare for children under one roof and to have something much better for the children than what we have right now. It can be paid for by the largest philanthropic gift in the history of building children’s hospitals. You may not believe this, and I’m not sure I do either, but the three hospital systems don’t want to work together to accept this money and selflessly do what’s right for the children. I’m sure it’s complicated business-wise. I understand they were close to ironing out all the details when suddenly the new children’s hospital is abandoned… yet again. What are pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists supposed to do when we know that our patients could have better than the status quo? Children living in other... read more
May 30, 2015 Dear Colleagues, We were shocked, surprised and disappointed by the VCU and Bon Secours decision to abandon plans to build a new children’s hospital in collaboration with the Virginia Children’s Alliance board. The board had hired Kaufman Hall, a Chicago firm specializing in brokering complex hospital negotiations, to work through existing obstacles and to craft an agreement leading to a free standing pediatric hospital. Eight million dollars were raised from the community to fund this process. There appeared to be real momentum toward meeting each systems “core principles” and requirements, including location. The Alliance leadership and the Goodwin family were informed less than 24 hours before the VCU/Bon Secours joint press conference to announce their decision to abandon plans for the new hospital. Alliance board members were surprised and upset, but ultimately are strongly motivated to continue their work. It is hard to even think about squandering the largest philanthropic gift in the history of Children’s Hospitals. While VCU and Bon Secours are not able to make an ongoing commitment to having a new children’s hospital at this time, the donor community, the Virginia Children’s Hospital Alliance board, physician leaders and an army of parents have NOT abandoned the quest for transformative change in the healthcare of our region’s children. The Alliance and the philanthropic community are still engaged and motivated to move forward with us. Pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists are once again called to raise our voices and speak for the children. As the PACK, we were asked to step back due to the “sensitivity” of the negotiations over the last ten months and curtail... read more
Anne Maliff takes a stand for children as she tells her personal story of her child who has been seen by specialists all over the Richmond region. This powerful presentation will open your eyes to the fact that we need a children’s hospital for Richmond... read more
A group of pediatricians and pediatric specialists has organized with the ambitious goal of opening a new, specialized hospital in the area. Pediatricians Envision Area Children’s Hospital (Radio Interview by John Ogle, WCVE/NPR Radio, June 14,... read more
