Great News for Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago

When I hear great news for charitable organizations, I like to share it.  Today I read that Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago received a $16 million gift from the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Foundation to establish an emergency care center at its new facility, the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.  

Per the article that appeared on the Philanthropy News Digest:

The funds will be used to create the Kenneth and Anne Griffin Emergency Care Center, which will open on the campus of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in the summer of 2012. The new facility will include additional examination rooms, major trauma/resuscitation beds, and an expanded triage area to allow rapid assessment of arriving patients — substantially increasing the hospital's emergency care capacity and improving patient response times. The facility also will feature state-of-the-art technology, including dedicated diagnostic radiology suites and a CT scanner.

This is a good example of what passionate board members can do.  Anne Griffin has been a member of the Children's Memorial Medical Center and Children's Memorial Foundation board of directors since 2005.  She and her husband, both successful business people in Chicago, fully understand the value of a the pediatric emergency care provided to more than 65,000 children treated there annually.  There is additional detail about the gift in the Children's Memorial Hospital press release.

Congratulations to Children's Memorial Hospital, the city of Chicago and the thousands of children that will benefit from this family's exceptional generosity!

On a side note, this hospital has a great tagline that no doubt serves as a powerful daily reminder as to its mission: "Where kids comes first."  It reminds me of the excellent mission that is visible at every entrance at Primary Children's Medica Centerl in Salt Lake City: "The child first and always."  Both of these are excellent statements of the hospital's purpose and what drives everything from clinical care to customer service. They are simple, powerful, effective and leaves no question as to what the number one priority is for every person that comes through their doors.