CEO of Children’s Hospital Puts Personal Research Interests Above Patient Care Quality

Tom Hansen, the new CEO of Children’s Hospital, in an editorial in the Seattle Times on November 18, 2005 reiterated his priorities for the institution: research, research, research. In the article, he uses the word research, and words meaning research, dozens of times yet doesn’t address the Hospital’s real mission until the last sentence - and devotes less space to patient care quality than to how many new jobs the research spending will create.

When I requested a 15-minute meeting with him to discuss my concern as a parent that quality care issues were not being addressed, he first stalled (through his assistant, of course) and then never responded again. He communicated effectively to me that receiving timely and accurate information on patient care is not a priority for him.

Call his office and express your concern by talking to Susan at 206-987-2001. Act now to emphasize to the new CEO that spending money on new research that never makes it to the patients is not why this Hospital exists. Note that in the final sentence of the editorial he points out the primary mission of Children’s Hospital: that children in our area always receive the highest-quality care available. At least he got that part right.

Here is the text of his editorial.

Ambitious expansion at Children's
By Tom Hansen
Special to The Times

Children's Hospital intends to eliminate all disease in children. It is so lofty a goal that it seems almost unrealistic.

But I truly believe that through strategic research investment, diseases such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia will disappear in my lifetime — much as polio did during my parents' generation. I am confident we will discover new therapies for children with cancer and find new ways to prevent premature birth.

This is why Children's Hospital is undertaking a significant expansion of its research capabilities — research is the key to eliminating pediatric disease.
Of course, Children's alone cannot eliminate all pediatric disease. But, we are moving forward quickly as our response to a timeless question: "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

As Children's new president and chief executive officer, I am charged with leading the hospital and its research efforts in the next major step toward achieving a dream conceived years ago by Children's board of trustees and former CEO Treuman Katz. They understood that children are not just little adults and that the diseases that strike them need special attention. At Children's Hospital, we must, as we always have done, focus on the special needs of children.

Children's already has some of the nation's top medical researchers. Their presence will help us attract other top-caliber researchers to Seattle and add to an illustrious history of pediatric medical breakthroughs. To highlight just a few milestones:

• Dr. Bonnie Ramsey and Dr. Arnold Smith developed the improved aerosol methods to deliver antibiotics to treat lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients, significantly improving their life expectancy.

• Dr. Robert Hickman devised new ways to use the catheter that now bears his name. Used for nutrition, blood draws and delivery of chemotherapy, the Hickman Catheter eliminates the need for repeated needle sticks in children.

• Dr. Phillip Tarr described a mol-ecular technique to analyze the linkage between strains of E. coli bacteria responsible for hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in children who ingest tainted beef, the predominant cause of HUS.

• Dr. Dimitri Christakis provided the first evidence that early television exposure may be related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). His nationally acclaimed study found that each hour of television watched per day at ages 1-3 increases the risk of attention problems such as ADHD by almost 10 percent by age 7.

We will continue to build our program in partnership with Seattle's other world-class research institutions, particularly the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The physicians who staff Children's are faculty members at UW. With "the Hutch," Children's and the UW formed the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in 1998, speeding the delivery of new cancer treatments to patients throughout the world.

Since then, Children's has opened two new facilities dedicated to basic science and clinical research, and we plan to do much more.

My background in research development was a major reason I took the helm at Seattle Children's. During my tenure as CEO of the Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, it grew to become the nation's ninth-ranked children's hospital in grant support from the National Institutes of Health.

Previously, I was on the medical staff of Columbus Children's while also serving as chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Ohio State University. Before that, I served in various research capacities at Baylor College of Medicine, including director of the Child Health Research Center and vice chairman for research in the Department of Pediatrics.

In the months ahead, I will work closely with Seattle Children's world-class faculty to develop an action plan that will focus on significantly expanding our research capabilities while continuing to push for excellence in patient care, education and advocacy.

I do mean a significant expansion of research: Children's will soon announce a phased program to acquire as much as 1 million square feet of additional research space outside our main Seattle campus. The best researchers demand the best facilities and we plan to offer them some of the finest facilities anywhere.

We would not undertake this effort if we were not certain it would be good for the children. Our research initiative will bring the best doctors to Seattle, resulting in improved patient care, access to cutting-edge technology, new and improved therapies, and landmark discoveries. Pediatric research also has direct implications for adults. Each year, more children reach adulthood with pediatric diseases like diabetes and congenital heart disease.

Expanding our research capability will also boost the local economy and increase the number of good jobs in our region. An economic-development rule of thumb estimates that every 300,000 square feet of research space roughly equals 1,000 jobs.

Research will play an increasingly important role at Children's Hospital and help us fulfill our primary mission: that children in our area always receive the highest-quality care available anywhere — regardless of their family's ability to pay. Eliminating pediatric disease is our ultimate goal.

Dr. Tom Hansen is the new president and CEO of Seattle-based Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. A specialist in neonatology, he plans to stay personally involved in researching cures for chronic lung disease in premature infants.