2006 Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Report

Dear Friends,

It is my pleasure to share with you the results of another successful year at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Since we opened our doors 15 years ago, your generosity has been the keystone as we have built a premier children's hospital. 

Christopher Dawes, President and CEO, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

In 2006, U.S. News & World Report once again recognized Packard Children's, ranking it as one of the best in the nation and the number one children's hospital in California. We also received multiple national awards this year for our outstanding patient safety record. I am proud to report that protocols and standards developed by Packard staff to reduce or eliminate medical errors are now being adopted by other children's hospitals around the country. 

This expert care found at Packard Children's is attracting more children and families from the surrounding community. Yet as demand for our services has grown, we now face an acute shortage of beds, which puts us in the difficult position of turning away children who need our care. Last year alone, we were unable to admit more than 200 critically ill children. 

To address these space constraints and accommodate increasing patient needs and new medical technologies, we are developing plans to expand Packard Children's. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health has launched a Breaking New Ground campaign to help fund the project. The plans, part of the larger Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Renewal and Replacement Project, is currently being reviewed by the City of Palo Alto. You can learn more and sign up to receive updates at www.stanfordpackard.org. 

This expansion is an exciting next phase for our children's hospital and a testament to the vital role Packard Children's plays in meeting the health care needs of children in our community and throughout the region. Your partnership has been instrumental to our success to date and will continue to be essential as we undertake the Breaking New Ground campaign. I thank you for your generosity and your ongoing commitment to the health of our children. 

Sincerely, 

Christopher G. Dawes 
President and Chief Executive Officer 
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Highlights

• Packard Children's Hospital was one of only nine children's hospitals in the country to make the first-ever "Top Hospitals" list based on an annual Hospital Quality and Safety Survey conducted by the Leapfrog Group, a nationwide consortium of health care purchasers. Packard Children's also was the recipient of the new Excellence in Patient Safety & Health Care Award, selected by California's four largest health care plans: Aetna, Blue Shield of California, CIGNA, and UnitedHealthcare. 

• A new Down Syndrome Clinic, the only one of its kind on the West Coast, opened at Packard Children's in July 2006. The clinic provides therapy services as well as specialized medical, genetic, developmental, and psychological testing, all in one location. Clinic specialists are able to collaborate with scientists from Stanford's Down Syndrome Research Center, who recently identified a protein responsible for certain cognitive difficulties faced by Down syndrome patients. 

• In August 2006, Packard surgeons performed an unprecedented three pediatric heart transplants in one 36-hour span. This number of heart transplants in such a short time frame was a record for Packard Children's and is thought not to have occurred at any other U.S. hospital. The remarkable effort was led by Bruce Reitz, MD, the Norman E. Shumway Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford. 

• In September 2006, the Mobile Adolescent Health Services Program marked its 10th year of operation. Since 1996, the 38-foot "Teen Van" has provided free medical services to thousands of homeless, uninsured, and underserved adolescents and young adults. In addition to medical care, van staff provide nutrition education and mental health counseling to teens, and work with patients to help them reduce risk-taking behaviors and prevent future health problems.

• Researchers and physicians at Packard's Center for Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Diseases completed Phase 1 clinical trails for a potential new treatment for cystic fibrosis using a compound called N-acetylcysteine, or NAC. Results show that patients treated with NAC experienced decreased lung inflammation. Scientists are optimistic that the new treatment may be able to help preserve lung function in cystic fibrosis patients. 

• For the third straight year, Packard Children's Hospital made a gift to the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation and the San Mateo-based Peninsula Community Foundation to help provide medical coverage to uninsured children who are not eligible for Medi-Cal or other federal or state programs. Packard's donation of nearly $200,000 this year will be used to enroll 100 children in each county's Healthy Kids Program. 

• Packard's Pediatric Weight Control Program, one of the longest-running and most successful pediatric weight management programs in the country, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006. More than 350 children between the ages of 8 and 15 have successfully graduated from the six-month program, which works with the entire family to introduce healthful eating and exercise habits. In addition to its site at Packard Children's, the program is offered in East Palo Alto and San Jose.