Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2023 - 3

CHA VOICES / CHECKING IN
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chair
Thank you!
Appreciating our national community of children's hospitals
Jeff Sperring, M.D.
Seattle Children's
Immediate Past Chair
Paul A. King
Stanford Medicine Children's Health
Vice Chair
Mike Farrell
Advocate Children's Hospital
Secretary
Jena Hausmann
Children's Hospital Colorado
Treasurer
R. Lawrence Moss, M.D.
Nemours Children's Health
Board Members
Marcy Doderer
Arkansas Children's
Deborah Feldman
Dayton Children's
Paul Kempinski
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Timothy Robinson
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Margaret G. Rush
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital
at Vanderbilt
Katy A. Welkie, RN
Intermountain Primary
Children's Hospital
Matthew Cook
CEO
Childrenʼs Hospital Association
Mark Wietecha
CEO Emeritus
Childrenʼs Hospital Association
T
ime flies by in eventful times. Twelve
years have passed since I began my work
with the new Children's Hospital Association
amidst momentous events. Externally, the
Affordable Care Act was in the middle of a
disruptive implementation and the Children's
Hospital Graduate Medical Education program
(CHGME) was failing to be reauthorized
by Congress. Internally, the CHA predecessor
organizations were engaged in a complex
merger process; the group purchasing organization
was being totally reorganized; and DCfocused
federal advocacy had fragmented
across our children's hospital membership
over Medicaid policy. Our children's hospital
membership and teams, CHA staff, and
legislative and allied constituencies steadily
realigned to advance our shared agendas.
Together, we would overcome our challenges
and establish the children's hospital community
as one of the most respected, trusted and
impactful collaborations in national pediatric
advocacy and practice.
We continued reauthorizing the CHGME
and Children's Health Insurance Program
(CHIP) programs, passed our Advancing Care
for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) legislation,
secured billions of dollars in COVID-19 pandemic
financial damage relief for our hospitals,
and defended and improved the Medicaid
program for millions of children and families.
We have been integral leaders and sponsors
of the national work by our children's
hospitals to improve quality and patient
safety. This includes pioneering work on
CLABSI and sepsis and the creation of the
only pediatric patient safety organization:
the Child Health PSO. We declared a national
emergency in pediatric mental health
and initiated long-term work to improve
access and reduce suicide. Together, we completed
the national CMMI Coordinating All
Resources Effectively (CARE) Award demonstrating
the effectiveness of standardized
coordinated care across multiple states in
Medicaid for children with complex medical
conditions. We strengthened our pediatric
comparative data and analytics, expanded
our pediatric educational programs, and
created a more capable, secure and betterresourced
CHA to support the future collaboration
of children's hospitals.
All of this has been made possible by the
leadership, engagement, talent, passion and
hard work of the thousands of clinicians and
administrative leaders of the children's hospitals
working through CHA. Not a week has
passed in my time here when I've not been in
awe and gratitude for the commitment and
work of our children's hospitals on behalf of
the better health and lives of the millions of
children and families in your care.
As my work with CHA concludes in
December, I want to thank you for welcoming
me as part of your community. You allowed
me glimpses into the magic and compassion
of what you do and changed my life
and heart forever in ways I never imagined.
Be well, stay in touch, and keep up the
good fight for our kids,
MARK WIETECHA
CEO Emeritus, Children's Hospital Association
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2023
3
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2023

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