Heritage Snapshot: Part 94

The Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital does not earn enough from patient revenues to fund operations, therefore, the difference is made up by donations from individuals, foundations, and charities. On Aug. 11, 2003, nine Olympic athletes stepped forward. Bonnie Blair Cruickshank, (at the time the most decorated Winter Olympian in history) is a member of the U.S. Speed-skating Board of Directors. She joined 2002 Olympic gold medalist, speed-skater Derek Parra, for the inaugural Derek Parra Gold Medal Celebrity Golf Classic. That event was held at the Arrowhead Country Club. Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital benefited from it because Parra’s cousin Joyce, who had been treated for cancer at the facility, was cancer-free. “It’s a great facility,” Parra said. “They did great things for her. To be involved with them through this tourney is a great thing... She has been cancer-free for 10 years now and I felt this was a chance for me to give back and say thank you.” Cruickshank flew in from Chicago to play the classic and flew back home later the same day. “Derek is a good person and he has a good heart,” she said. “I’m happy to be a part of this.” Also joining the group was 2002 Olympic skiing silver medalist, Shannon Bahrke. Both David B. Hinshaw, Sr., MD, at the time, president of the Medical Center, and J. David Moorhead, MD, senior vice president for the Children’s Hospital, were instrumental in planning the Children’s Hospital Foundation. On May 20, 1992, the Medical Center Board of Trustees approved the formation of the community-based Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation; one of the criteria for becoming a member of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions, Inc. The Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation devotes itself as a nonprofit agency to raising money, coordinating, and promoting children’s health services and projects. Its first chair, former Congresswoman Shirley Pettis Roberson, is a compassionate woman long known for her active support for service and philanthropic projects in the Inland Empire. She assembled a foundation board that included local, state and national leaders. The foundation works closely with public and private agencies interested in children’s healthcare. It educates lawmakers and the public on the critical health needs facing American children. The foundation’s task is daunting because increasing numbers of children in the county of San Bernardino live in poverty and less than one fourth of them receive medical, dental or basic day care. The Children’s Hospital Foundation has always hoped to model joint, comprehensive, and broad-based, cooperative hospital-community ventures on behalf of children’s healthcare. While the new organization’s creators organized the first components of the foundation (December 1991), they sponsored a benefit concert with the country music group, “The Highwaymen,” led by Johnny Cash. It raised $100,000 for craniofacial programs and research at the Children’s Hospital. The Children’s Hospital Foundation is a charitable, tax-exempt organization, which raises funds to support clinical services and programs at the Children’s Hospital. Nearly 70 percent of the Children’s Hospital’s patients are under-insured or have no insurance at all. Yet, LLUCH provides patient care for children regardless of their family’s ability to pay. Of the $25 million needed each year, $500,000 is required for new technology and medical equipment. A further $2 million is needed to upgrade and maintain facilities to better accommodate a rapidly-growing population. Individuals can support the Children’s Hospital with cash gifts, estate gifts, and gifts-in-kind from toys, books, and crafts to automobiles. Individuals can also volunteer, either through the hospital directly, or through such groups as the Big Hearts for Little Hearts Guild. Corporations and associations also support the Children’s Hospital. In 2002 the LLUCH opened its Toyota Learning Center with a full-time teacher to assist hospitalized patients with schoolwork. Also the first “radiothon” to benefit children fighting cancer raised more than $320,000. The Children’s Hospital offers interdenominational chapel services for children and families seeking spiritual support. In addressing a child’s physical, social, spiritual, emotional, and educational needs, the Children’s Hospital enables children to enjoy their childhood in the midst of healing. Because accidental injury is the leading cause of death in children ages 14 and younger, the hospital was a founding partner in the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the only national non-profit organization dedicated to preventing accidental childhood injuries. The Children’s Hospital promotes injury prevention to families through one-on-one consultation, literature, and equipment resources. Families unable to purchase safety equipment for their children, such as bicycle helmets and car seats, receive such items free-of charge. The Children’s Hospital accommodates more than 13,000 admissions and 100,000 outpatient visits annually. Its high-tech facilities include extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This treatment provides partial prolonged heart-lung bypass for infants with life threatening respiratory failure due to cardiac or pulmonary disease. The American Board of Surgeons has designated the Children’s Hospital a Level I Regional Trauma Center, providing the highest level of trauma care within the Inland Empire’s four-county area, home to more than 1.3 million children. On Aug. 8, 2006, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital moved patients into a new unit on the third floor, which added another 48 beds. The Children’s Hospital is now licensed for 317 beds, including 84 for neonatal intensive care.