Powered by philanthropy, children’s hospitals send out a message of hope from Memphis to the world
It is perhaps in the healthcare sector where the civic spirit of Memphian people and businesses is most prominent. Two facilities in particular, both established by charitable donations, have positioned Memphis as one of the world’s foremost centers for pediatric treatment and research. Both of the two hospitals —Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital— are continuing to invest and expand, ensuring that children and families in Memphis and beyond will continue to benefit from world-class healthcare.
The older of the two hospitals, Le Bonheur, has been named as a Best Children’s Hospital by US News & World Report for seven consecutive years. Located since 2010 in a new facility in the heart of the Memphis Medical District, Le Bonheur has grown into one of the leading children’s hospitals in the country, employing some of the world’s foremost pediatric specialists. In the last seven years, Le Bonheur has recruited more than 150 physicians and scientists to Memphis. Outside the hospital walls, Le Bonheur also runs extensive community outreach engagement programs with young mothers and families, funded largely by donations.
“We have a lot of support from the community and the business world and that’s what makes the difference,” Le Bonheur President Meri Armour says. “It is true that when you work together, you do better.”
Le Bonheur works closely with Memphis’ other major children’s hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is a partner with Le Bonheur in a pediatric surgical brain tumor program at the city’s leading Neuroscience Institute, and both institutions are affiliated with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).
Like Le Bonheur, St. Jude owes its existence to charitable donations and fund-raising, in its case led by the Lebanese American entertainer Danny Thomas. In 1962, Thomas opened St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to all children from all backgrounds, free of charge, regardless of race or background. Since then, the institution has gone from strength to strength and last year was named as the country’s no.1 pediatric cancer hospital. Even more importantly, the work carried out by St. Jude has helped raise the survival rate for childhood cancer from less than 20% in 1962 to more than 80% today.
“We are working to get it to 90% and we’re not going to stop until no child dies from cancer,” says Richard Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), the fundraising organization of St. Jude.
The hospital relies on donations from over 10 million donors for 75% of its budget, which it uses to cover not only medical expenses but also the continuing education of its child patients and housing costs for their families. “Our operating model, coupled with the fact that St. Jude is a research hospital, has enabled the pioneering research and lifesaving care that makes it possible for more kids to survive cancer,” Shadyac says.
The hospital is investing heavily in expanding its capacity and acquiring state-of-the-art research technologies. “Over the next six years we will invest $1 billion in new construction and add over 1,000 new employees and faculty on the St. Jude campus,” President and CEO Dr. James Downing says. With new inpatient and outpatient facilities, as well as housing for patients and their families, the hospital will be able to treat 20% more pediatric patients each year.
“It is a massive expansion project that will bring lots of economic benefit to the city of Memphis,” Downing says. “But it’s not enough just to cure children on our campus. We are Memphis-based, but we see ourselves as a global resource and we share our discoveries freely across the United States and around the world.”