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Best in Your Own Backyard
Local Families Benefit from Packard's Excellence
BY JOAN THARP
FALL 2005 -- Building the best. That's the dream behind the five-year,
$500 million Campaign for Lucile Packard Children's Hospital—to
transform Packard from a highly regarded children's hospital to one of
the nation's best. And in less than four years, much of the dream has
come true.
Today, Packard's reputation for cutting-edge research and treatment of
childhood diseases and conditions is so strong that it attracts experts
from around the world. More than 30 pediatric leaders have joined the
Hospital since the Campaign began, including world-class surgeons, clinicians,
and researchers whose efforts promise great advances in children's health.
According to the latest annual survey by U.S. News & World Report,
Packard now is the top ranked children's hospital on the West Coast and
among the 10 leading children's hospitals in the U.S. -- impressive for
an institution that opened its doors just 14 years ago.
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And, according to the magazine, Stanford Medical School's pediatric program
is ranked as the seventh in the country. Packard enjoys a close collaboration
with Stanford University and the School of Medicine—a partnership
that each year produces a new crop of pediatric leaders and ensures that
the latest scientific knowledge reaches the Hospital's patients.
Of course, it's not just what the Hospital provides but how it provides
it that boosts its reputation. Packard staff is known for its family-centered,
child-friendly approach that is integral to the expert care given to patients.
Last year, Packard also won four national awards for patient safety—the
most recent honor given by the Child Health Corporation of America, which
placed Packard first in safety among 39 other U.S. children's hospitals.
Small wonder that children from around the Bay Area, the nation, and
the world come to Packard for the care they need. But local women and
children remain the vast majority of the Hospital's patients, and they
are coming to Packard in greater numbers. More than half of all patients,
and 47 percent of pediatric patients, are from San Mateo and Santa Clara
counties, the Hospital's primary service area. More than 80 percent of
all children who are admitted live in the greater Bay Area.
"Local children with birth defects, heart disease, cancer, or other
serious conditions can get the best care in the world, right at their
door," says Alan M. Krensky, M.D., the Shelagh Galligan Professor
and chief of immunology and transplantation in the Department of Pediatrics.
"And our community pediatricians -- the doctors who care for mothers
and children in clinics outside of the Hospital -- get the best training
and can interact with colleagues at Packard who are doing groundbreaking
research. All of this is of tremendous benefit to the kids in our community."
Isn't it nice to know the best is in your own backyard?
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